To Succeed Russian Pipelines

Terminals To Succeed Russian Pipelines  Germany's most strategically important building site is at the end of a windswept pier on the North Sea coast, where workers are assembling the country's first terminal for the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG).  Starting this winter, the rig, close to the port of Wilhelmshaven, will be able to supply the equivalent of 20 percent of the gas that was until recently imported from Russia.  Since it invaded Ukraine, Moscow has throttled gas supplies to Germany. At the same time, the Nord Stream pipelines which carried huge volumes under the Baltic Sea to Europe were damaged last week in what a Danish-Swedish report called "a deliberate act."  In the search for alternative sources, the German government has splashed billions on five projects like the one in Wilhelmshaven.  Altogether the new fleet should be able to handle around 25 billion cubic meters of gas per year, roughly equivalent to half the capacity of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.  At the site in Wilhelmshaven, the half-finished concrete platform emerging from the sea sprays workers in fluorescent yellow vests with a fine mist.  Back on solid land, a constant stream of lorries delivers sections of grey pipe, which should relay the terminal to the gas network.  LNG terminals allow for the import by the sea of natural gas which has been chilled and turned into a liquid to make it easier to transport.  A specialist vessel, an FSRU, which can stock the fuel and turn LNG back into a ready-to-use gas, is also hooked up to the platform to complete the installation.  Unlike other countries in Europe, Germany until now did not have an LNG terminal, instead relying on relatively cheap pipeline supplies from Russia.  But since the invasion of Ukraine, Germany has set about weaning itself off Moscow's gas exports, which previously represented 55 percent of its supplies.  To diversify its sources, secure enough supplies of the fuel, and keep its factories working, Berlin has bet massively on LNG to fill the gap left by Russian imports.  Chancellor Olaf Scholz last week signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates for the supply of LNG while touring Gulf states in search of new sources.  Renting five FSRU ships to plug into the new terminals has also set Berlin back three billion euros ($2.9 billion).  Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Germany passed a law to speed up the approval process for LNG terminals drastically.  In Wilhelmshaven, the work is coming along rapidly. The terminal should be finished "this winter", says Holger Krentz, who heads the project for German energy company Uniper.  The German environmental organization DUH said the works would "irreversibly destroy sensitive ecosystems as well as endanger the living space of threatened porpoises".