Meyer stops LNG import: Is that the final farewell to the gas?

Meyer stops LNG import: Is that the final farewell to the gas?

In the Lower Saxony Stade, there are turbulent developments in the energy port: Environment Minister Christian Meyer from the Greens spoke up and called for an end to the LNG import in the region. The port, which was designed for the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG), has so far not fed into the network of a single cubic meter. Despite promising announcements by the German Energy Terminal (DET), the commissioning of the floating terminal is delayed, and the plans now seem to fail, like Kreiszeitung-wochenblatt.de reported.

Meyer pointed out that the existing capacities for the LNG import were sufficient and vowed vehemently against further increases. The DET also announced that from the first quarter of 2025 there was no further LNG inflow from the Terminal in Wilhelmshaven, which indicates a three-month marketing break. The reasons for this development are unclear, but could be related to too high fees or an already high level of gas storage. So far, however, the authorities have remained silent on this matter. Meyer described the break as a positive for the environment and climate with a view to switching to renewable energies.

complex processes at the terminal

But how does the import of LNG actually work? An LNG tanker at the terminal is created at special jetties called jetties. These have the capacity of unloading large tankers with up to 267,000 m³ LNG, which can take around 20 hours, while smaller ships are handled faster. The liquefied natural gas is then regasified and fed into the national natural gas network, which means that the LNG can also be used in other areas such as the transport, as described germanlng.com Due to the marketing stopped, however, this will not be done in Stade for the time being.