CAPTION: Economy Minister Robert Habeck visiting Lubmin. (picture alliance / dpa)
Construction on one of Germany's new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals is set to begin this week, as the country rapidly reorientates its energy supplies away from Russian fossil fuels.
German firm Deutsche ReGas plans to start work on the construction of an LNG terminal in Lubmin in the north-east of the country on Tuesday, the company announced.
Lubmin is one of several coastal locations where LNG delivered by ship is to arrive on land in order to replace the supply of Russian natural gas, which has been completely cut off due to the repercussions of the war in Ukraine.
The construction will be aimed at upgrading the industrial port, which has so far only been used by smaller ships, and creating a secure berth, the company said.
The first gas is to be delivered via the privately financed terminal as early as December, the firm said.
The LNG will be brought from large tankers anchored off Lubmin to the port with smaller shuttle ships and then fed it into the existing gas network.
Lubmin is also where the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipelines arrive from Russia - but no Russian gas is currently flowing through them.
The cut in deliveries of cheaper Russian gas has driven energy prices far higher in Germany and fuelled record inflation.
German energy company RWE and the Norwegian company Stena-Power also plan to build a floating gas terminal in Lubmin. The terminal chartered by the government should be ready for operation by the end of 2023.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who has been the minister responsible for dramatically changing Germany's energy sources, is visiting Lubmin on Monday.
He said Germany should be able to make it through the winter using its stored gas now that the storage facilities were 90% full.
"That means however that the storage facilities will be empty again at the end of the winter, in this case really empty, because we are going to use the gas," he said.
Habeck, from the Greens, has been forced to allow the possibility of more coal and nuclear power generation in Germany in the wake of the concerns over energy supplies this winter. Germany is meant to phase out both types of energy in the coming years.
Others in the Germany's three-way coalition however have pushed for a more open policy towards energy supply.
On Monday, Finance Minister Christian Lindner - from the pro-business Free Democrats - called for "clear planning security" for nuclear and coal power firms up until 2024.
Speaking in Berlin in comments apparently aimed at the Greens, he questioned whether "party political sensitivities" should be getting in the way of obtaining more energy.
"We must get to the root of the problem ... We need these power plants for electricity generation in Europe," he said.
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