Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal
{{Short description |Liquefied natural gas shipping terminal being constructed in Wilhelmshaven, Germany}}
{{Use British English |date=October 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates |date=October 2022}}
File:Luftaufnahmen Nordseekueste 2012 05 D90 by-RaBoe 160 crop.jpg
Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal is Germany's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping terminal, situated near Wilhelmshaven, Germany on the North Sea. It had been in the planning stages since the mid-2010s, and in 2022 gained rapid regulatory authority approval for construction following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the global natural gas supply crisis.
Construction was completed in November 2022.
The terminal received its commissioning load of approximately {{convert|170|e3m3|e6cuft|abbr=off}} of LNG, from Louisiana in the US, on 17 December 2022, and had received several additional shipments of the same size from the same source by 22 January 2023.
History
Planning began for the LNG shipping terminal as early as 2017,{{cite news |title=Zeitung: LNG-Terminal in Wilhelmshaven wieder in Planung |url=http://www.gas-magazin.de/gasmarkt/zeitung-lng-terminal-in-wilhelmshaven-wieder-in-planung_77020.html |work=Gas-Magazin |access-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170803232043/http://www.gas-magazin.de/gasmarkt/zeitung-lng-terminal-in-wilhelmshaven-wieder-in-planung_77020.html |archive-date=3 August 2017 |location=Berlin |language=de |date=20 October 2015 |url-status=dead}}
but regulatory process and political opposition resulted in years of delays in preparing German capacity to import large quantities of natural gas from seaborne LNG shipments.{{cite web |url=https://www.marketexpress.in/2020/02/german-lng-terminal-plans-and-environmentalists.html |url-status=live |title=German LNG terminal plans and environmentalists |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925051916/https://www.marketexpress.in/2020/02/german-lng-terminal-plans-and-environmentalists.html |archive-date=2022-09-25 |website=Market Express |author=Deutsche Welle |date=2020-02-27 |access-date=2022-10-08}} The German government instead embarked on a path of using cheaper Russian natural gas commitments via the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 undersea Baltic pipelines.
As a result, construction of the Wilhemshaven terminal to receive LNG operationally did not begin until 2022.{{cite news |title='We got too comfortable': the race to build an LNG terminal in north Germany |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/18/berlin-scrambling-to-import-lng-as-russia-throttles-gas-supply |last=Oltermann |first=Philip |work=The Guardian |date=19 August 2022 |access-date=2022-10-08 |archive-date=2022-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006113118/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/18/berlin-scrambling-to-import-lng-as-russia-throttles-gas-supply |url-status=live }} Three days after the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany would build two LNG terminals quickly, one at Brunsbüttel and another at Wilhelmshaven.{{cite news |title=Germany to upgrade two ports 'quickly' to receive shipped gas |first=Laurenz |last=Gehrke |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-to-build-two-lng-terminals-quickly-to-reduce-energy-dependency-on-russia/ |work=Politico |date=27 February 2022 |access-date=8 August 2022 |archive-date=24 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220924144413/https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-to-build-two-lng-terminals-quickly-to-reduce-energy-dependency-on-russia/ |url-status=live }}
By August 2022, the German government had expanded their plans to include five floating LNG facilities. In addition to Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel,{{cite news |url=https://www.tankstoragemag.com/2022/02/28/germany-to-fast-track-two-new-lng-terminals/ |url-status=live |title=Germany to fast-track two new LNG terminals |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913215730/https://www.tankstoragemag.com/mag_advertising/ |archive-date=2022-09-13 |work=Tank Storage Magazine
|date=2022-02-28 |access-date=2022-10-08}} which could become operational in late 2022, three more new terminals were accelerated, one at Stade and two at Lubmin, with all three expected to become operational in 2023.{{cite news |title=Germany says fifth floating LNG terminal to be built by end of 2022 |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/germany-says-fifth-floating-lng-terminal-be-built-by-end-2022-2022-07-19/ |url-access=subscription |work=Reuters |date=19 July 2022 |access-date=24 September 2022 |archive-date=24 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220924121508/https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/germany-says-fifth-floating-lng-terminal-be-built-by-end-2022-2022-07-19/ |url-status=live }} By mid-September 2022, the German government was continuing to estimate as good the probability of getting the first two of the floating terminals into operation by late December.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/germany-sign-lng-contracts-uae-german-economy-minister-2022-09-19/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |title=Germany to sign LNG contracts in UAE, German economy minister says |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220924153144/https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/germany-sign-lng-contracts-uae-german-economy-minister-2022-09-19/ |archive-date=2022-09-24 |work=Reuters |date=2022-09-19 |access-date=2022-10-08}}
Unusually, environmental impact assessments were explicitly skipped according to Robert Habeck, a Green party politician and the environmental affairs minister in the current German government, saying "ensuring Germany was no longer blackmailable by Putin had to take priority."
The first load of {{convert|170,000|m3|e6ft3|abbr=off}} of LNG, producing {{convert|97|e6m3|e9ft3|abbr=off}} of natural gas{{snd}}sufficient to supply 50,000 German households for a year, arrived at the Wilhelmshaven terminal in mid-December to initiate the commissioning process of the terminal. The shipment of US natural gas had been loaded at the Venture Global LNG terminal at Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana.[https://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/Germany-Welcomes-First-LNG-Carrier-At-New-Wilhelmshaven-Terminal.html Germany Welcomes First LNG Carrier At New Wilhelmshaven Terminal], OilPrice.com, 3 January 2023. Germany is continuing the move into marine LNG energy supply. A second of the rushed LNG gas terminals was opened by Germany at Lubmin on the Baltic Sea in mid-January 2023,[https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/germany-opens-2nd-liquefied-natural-gas-terminal-96436420 Germany opens its 2nd liquefied natural gas terminal], ABC News, 14 January 2023. while the regasification ship for the LNG terminal at Brunsbüttel on the North Sea arrived on 20 January.[https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/third-floating-lng-terminal-arrives-in-northern-germany/ar-AA16yCDa Third floating LNG terminal arrives in northern Germany], DW–South Africa, 20 January 2023.
Description
The Wilhemshaven terminal will be sized initially to receive approximately 80 tankers a year, which could substitute up to half of the gas imports that the German energy company Uniper formerly imported from Russia. This could supply approximately eight per cent of German gas demand as of early 2023.{{update needed |date=April 2024}}
{{As of |2022|08}}, the German government has leased {{ship||Höegh Esperanza||2}}, a {{convert|300|m|ft|abbr=off|adj=mid|-long}} tanker converted into a floating storage and regasification unit, and will be paying €200,000 a day for the lease. The unit will dock at a jetty built in 1982, and will turn liquid back into gas at a high rate, requiring about 10 hours per tanker load.
See also
References
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Category:Floating liquefied natural gas terminals
Category:Liquefied natural gas terminals