CAPTION: Special ship "Höegh Esperanza" during the opening of the LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven. (picture alliance/dpa)
Germany's first import terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) has started receiving fuel, operator Uniper said on Wednesday.
The first LNG was fed from the ship Höegh Esperanza into pipelines connected to the facility at Wilhelmshaven on Germany's North Sea coast at shortly after 9 am (0800 GMT).
"The fact that the first gas is already flowing through our LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven today is further proof of the determination with which all those involved are driving the project forward," Uniper manager Holger Kreetz told dpa.
The test phase which has now begun - one day earlier than planned - should be completed by the end of February, he said.
The terminal was opened on Saturday by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and forms a key part of Germany's strategy to turn away from Russian fossil fuels to other sources of energy. Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Russia has stopped delivering gas via undersea pipeline to Germany.
According to Uniper, the amount of LNG the ship has on board is enough to supply 50,000 to 80,000 households in Germany for a year.
Also on Wednesday, a tanker arrived off the coast of the Baltic Sea island of Rügen with the first cargo of LNG for another German terminal, in Lubmin.
According to the company Deutsche Regas, the Seapeak Hispania is loaded with 140,000 cubic metres of LNG from Egypt.
The operation at the Lubmin terminal is at an earlier stage, with some permits yet to be acquired.
Deutsche Regas has already applied for permission to begin a trial operation. This permit could be granted in a few days, local environment official Till Backhaus said earlier this week.
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