All of Germany’s moves on US LNG and more
Germany has received the first shipment of LNG from the United States, thanks to the rapid commissioning of the Wilhelmshaven regasification terminal. And the high temperatures keep the storage full
Germany received the first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States on Tuesday. The importation was possible thanks to the very rapid construction and entry into operation of the floating regasification terminal (FSRU, in jargon) of Wilhelmshaven, on the North Sea: it was inaugurated last month.
GERMANY AND THE LEGASFIERS
Germany did not have LNG terminals, but since the beginning of the war in Ukraine – which has brought to light all the risks of its profound energy dependence on Russia – it has begun to focus heavily on these infrastructures, necessary to access the global market for liquefied fuel and for "uncoupling" from Moscow.
THE NUMBERS OF THE WILHELMSHAVEN FSRU
The LNG carrier that arrived in Wilhelmshaven is the Maria Energy. The LNG it was carrying will be returned to the gaseous state by Höegh Esperanza, the FSRU present on the site: it is three hundred meters long and has a regasification capacity of 5 billion cubic meters a year.
LNG IS NOT ENOUGH TO SATISFY GERMANY'S NEEDS
Another four floating terminals for LNG are under construction, but they will not be sufficient to meet the immediate national energy needs. The German authorities have in fact decided to temporarily reactivate the old oil and coal-fired power plants and to extend the service of the last three nuclear power plants until mid-April.
STORAGE
At the beginning of 2023, gas storage in Germany was approximately 90 percent filled. The EU average on 1 January was 83.5 per cent; in Italy they are around 84 percent.
These are unusually high levels for this time of year, made possible by high temperatures in much of Europe which have had the effect of reducing the demand for heating fuel.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/germania-gnl-stati-uniti-primo-carico/ on Wed, 04 Jan 2023 11:41:52 +0000.