The German government will allocate some 3,000 million euros (about 3,235 million dollars) to four floating terminals of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the next ten years, according to a letter addressed to the German Parliament.
Initially, the letter mentioned the amount of 2,470 million euros, but later a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Finance specified that the correct figure was 2,740 million euros, to which an additional 200 million had to be added.
According to the information, the Ministry of Finance has already released the funds without consulting the relevant budget commission. It was argued that such a procedure was necessary for “compelling reasons”.
It is expected that the corresponding freight contracts will be signed by next Wednesday, April 20. Their objective is to import liquefied natural gas to ensure the gas supply to Germany.
German government will increase LNG
Having more liquefied natural gas is one of the pillars of the German government’s efforts to reduce dependence on Russian gas supplies.
In a “Progress Report on Energy Security” published by the Ministry of Economy at the end of March, it is stated that the federal government had sought options for three floating LNG terminals through the companies RWE and Uniper in order to continue to increase security of supply in Germany.
According to information, the companies are currently negotiating the lease of these floating terminals and the negotiations are in the final stretch.
For its part, it was indicated that the Government is currently examining possible locations in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, where the terminals could be deployed in the short term, in some cases even as early as the (European) winter of 2022-23.
Source: dpa
