Germany begins to shake off energy ties to Russia

Germany has begun building its first terminal for importing ­liquefied natural gas from the US and the Middle East as the government continues to cut its ­energy dependence on Russia.

German Energy Minister Robert ­Habeck. Picture: AFP

Germany has begun building its first terminal for importing ­liquefied natural gas from the US and the Middle East as the government continues to cut its ­dependence on fossil fuels from Russia.

Last year about 55 per cent of Germany’s gas and 35 per cent of its oil were supplied by Russia and the country has already paid Moscow more than €9bn ($13bn) for hydrocarbons since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Yet the invasion has galvanised Berlin into rapidly weaning itself off this reliance. The German energy ministry hopes to achieve “total” independence from Russian oil within weeks, chiefly by importing more through Rostock in northeast Germany and the Polish port of Gdansk.

Replacing the Russian pipeline gas is considerably harder, in large part because Germany has no infrastructure of its own for bringing in liquefied natural gas. Officials said it would only be able to shed about 90 per cent of its imports from Russia by the middle of 2024.

At the centre of Berlin’s ­response is a plan to build three LNG terminals and charter several floating LNG facilities in what would be record time by the traditionally sluggish standards of German bureaucracy.

Energy Minister Robert ­Habeck laid the foundation stone on Thursday for the first of these terminals at Wilhelmshaven, a port on the North Sea coast. Once it is finished – possibly as soon as the end of this year – it will be able to carry nine billion cubic metres of gas each year, equivalent to a fifth of the imports from Russia.

Germany has vowed not to repeat the mistake of buying an overwhelming proportion of its fossil fuels from a single country. Over the next two years it intends to diversify its supply with pipeline gas from Norway and The Netherlands, and LNG from countries such as the US, Qatar and Israel.

“Now more than ever we need to put our energy supply on a more robust foundation,” Mr Habeck said. “An accelerated energy shift is the be-all and end-all for a cheap, independent and secure supply.”

However, in a state renowned for its byzantine environmental and planning procedures, the ambitions may run into obstacles.

Environmental Action Germany, one of the country’s largest green groups, has pledged to oppose the LNG terminals, citing climate targets, safety concerns and the vulnerability of marine ecosystems. The organisation has suggested it could ask the courts to put an immediate stop to the building work.

Mr Habeck said this would be a serious mistake. “If we don’t have the LNG terminals, and if the gas isn’t coming from Russia, the security of Germany’s supply won’t be guaranteed,” he told German television.

Germany has dropped its opposition to an EU ban on Russian oil imports, although it still gets about 12 per cent of its crude from Russia, mostly through two refineries in the east.

Berlin remains set against imposing an immediate EU embargo on Russian gas, which the government believes would send Germany’s economy into a deep recession. Estimates of the ­resulting damage range from 0.3 per cent to 6 per cent of GDP.

Because ministers have promised to prioritise the gas supply to households and only 15 per cent of the fuel is used for generating electricity, German industry would bear the brunt of the embargo.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned that hundreds of thousands of jobs would be in jeopardy. However, a number of economists have suggested that the effects would be manageable.

The Times