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Released September 06, 2023 | GALWAY, IRELAND
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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The European Commission (EC) has approved a financial boost of 40 million euros (US$43 million) proposed by the German government to the country's first on-shore liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Brunsbuettel, near Hamburg.
The new terminal will be able to receive 10 billion cubic meters (Bcm) of LNG a year, which will replace about one-fifth of the gas Germany used to get from Russia before its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 and its cutting of gas exports to most of Europe. Germany relied on Russia for more than half of its gas imports. The port currently has a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), the 170,000-cubic-meter (cbm) Hoegh Gannet, which has been docked and in operation since March. It will be replaced by the new terminal, boosting overall LNG capacity by 2.5 Bcm. The new terminal will be 50% owned by the German government through the state bank KfW, 40% by Dutch company Gasunie (Groningen, Netherlands) and 10% by RWE AG (Essen, Germany). It will cost an estimated 1.3 billion euro (US$1.4 billion) to complete and will be operational in 2026.
"The new LNG terminal in Brunsbuettel will improve gas supply and infrastructure in Germany and thereby contribute to the achievement of the European Union's (EU's) goals in terms of security and diversification of energy supplies. The measure approved today has sufficient safeguards to limit any possible distortions to competition," said Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president in charge of competition policy at the EC.
Germany has been particularly active in replacing Russian gas. At the start of this year, two FSRUs, backed by the government went into operation in Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbuettel. In addition, a privately-owned FSRU in Lubmin on the Baltic Sea began operations. The three units are capable of handling 13.5 Bcm of gas in 2023. In addition, three further floating LNG terminals backed by the government are under construction: Wilhelmshaven II, Stade and Lubmin.
The land-based LNG terminal at Brunsbuettel will be constructed in such a way to allow for its conversion into a terminal for the import of renewable energy carriers (e.g., renewable hydrogen or renewable hydrogen derivatives), to avoid a lock-in of gas, the EC noted. It will be converted after 15 years of operation, at the latest by 2043. According to the Commission: "Russia's unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine has massively disrupted the world's energy system. It has caused hardship as a result of high energy prices and it has heightened energy security concerns, bringing to the fore the EU's over-dependence on gas, oil and coal imports from Russia. In March 2022, EU leaders agreed in the European Council to phase out Europe's dependency on Russian energy imports as soon as possible. Building on the Fit for 55 package of proposals and completing the actions on energy security of supply and storage, the REPowerEU plan put forward an additional set of actions to save energy, diversify supplies, quickly substitute fossil fuels by accelerating Europe's clean energy transition and to smartly combine investments and reforms."
Industrial Info is also tracking plans by RWE and Gasunie to build a green ammonia import terminal at Brunsbuettel. From as early as 2026, around 300,000 tonnes of green ammonia per year are due to arrive in Germany via the terminal before distribution to customers. The next step will be to build an industrial-scale cracker at the terminal to produce green hydrogen on site as well. This will see the volume of ammonia jump to 2 million tonnes per year, which will be transported to industrial customers via a dedicated hydrogen pipeline.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
The new terminal will be able to receive 10 billion cubic meters (Bcm) of LNG a year, which will replace about one-fifth of the gas Germany used to get from Russia before its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 and its cutting of gas exports to most of Europe. Germany relied on Russia for more than half of its gas imports. The port currently has a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), the 170,000-cubic-meter (cbm) Hoegh Gannet, which has been docked and in operation since March. It will be replaced by the new terminal, boosting overall LNG capacity by 2.5 Bcm. The new terminal will be 50% owned by the German government through the state bank KfW, 40% by Dutch company Gasunie (Groningen, Netherlands) and 10% by RWE AG (Essen, Germany). It will cost an estimated 1.3 billion euro (US$1.4 billion) to complete and will be operational in 2026.
"The new LNG terminal in Brunsbuettel will improve gas supply and infrastructure in Germany and thereby contribute to the achievement of the European Union's (EU's) goals in terms of security and diversification of energy supplies. The measure approved today has sufficient safeguards to limit any possible distortions to competition," said Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president in charge of competition policy at the EC.
Germany has been particularly active in replacing Russian gas. At the start of this year, two FSRUs, backed by the government went into operation in Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbuettel. In addition, a privately-owned FSRU in Lubmin on the Baltic Sea began operations. The three units are capable of handling 13.5 Bcm of gas in 2023. In addition, three further floating LNG terminals backed by the government are under construction: Wilhelmshaven II, Stade and Lubmin.
The land-based LNG terminal at Brunsbuettel will be constructed in such a way to allow for its conversion into a terminal for the import of renewable energy carriers (e.g., renewable hydrogen or renewable hydrogen derivatives), to avoid a lock-in of gas, the EC noted. It will be converted after 15 years of operation, at the latest by 2043. According to the Commission: "Russia's unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine has massively disrupted the world's energy system. It has caused hardship as a result of high energy prices and it has heightened energy security concerns, bringing to the fore the EU's over-dependence on gas, oil and coal imports from Russia. In March 2022, EU leaders agreed in the European Council to phase out Europe's dependency on Russian energy imports as soon as possible. Building on the Fit for 55 package of proposals and completing the actions on energy security of supply and storage, the REPowerEU plan put forward an additional set of actions to save energy, diversify supplies, quickly substitute fossil fuels by accelerating Europe's clean energy transition and to smartly combine investments and reforms."
Industrial Info is also tracking plans by RWE and Gasunie to build a green ammonia import terminal at Brunsbuettel. From as early as 2026, around 300,000 tonnes of green ammonia per year are due to arrive in Germany via the terminal before distribution to customers. The next step will be to build an industrial-scale cracker at the terminal to produce green hydrogen on site as well. This will see the volume of ammonia jump to 2 million tonnes per year, which will be transported to industrial customers via a dedicated hydrogen pipeline.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
