Germany's HEH on track to start onshore LNG terminal in 2027 as lawsuit dismissed

Germany's Hanseatic Energy Hub is on track to begin operations in 2027 at its permanent onshore LNG import terminal at Stade in northern Germany, a spokesperson said late March 27.

It comes after a lawsuit brought last year by environmentalist group BUND was dismissed by the Federal Administrative Court.

"The clear decision of the Federal Administrative Court is evidence of the good and careful work of the Trade Supervisory Office Luneburg and the city of Stade," the HEH spokesperson said.

"Starting in 2027, we will contribute to the security of supply for Germany and Europe with the land-based terminal for liquefied gases," the spokesperson said.

HEH entered the construction phase for the terminal in June 2024. The terminal will have a total capacity of 13.3 Bcm/year, with 90% of the volume booked under long-term deals with Germany's EnBW and SEFE, and Czech utility CEZ.

The remaining capacity is reserved for short-term bookings.

CEZ in November 2023 signed a 15-year agreement for 2 Bcm/year of capacity at Stade with an option to extend the agreement by a further 10 years.

Previously, EnBW and SEFE secured long-term import capacity at Stade of 6 Bcm/year and 4 Bcm/year, respectively.

The long-term bookings of 12 Bcm/year leave 1.3 Bcm/year of capacity that can be booked on a short-term basis in line with regulatory requirements.

Initially, the Stade terminal will serve as an import facility for LNG, synthetic natural gas and liquefied biomethane, but will also be able to import ammonia as a carbon-neutral, hydrogen-based energy carrier in the future.

The long-term capacity contracts signed by EnBW, SEFE and CEZ also include the option to switch to hydrogen-based energy carriers at a later stage.

LNG Acceleration Act

Germany rushed to deploy LNG import infrastructure after it was cut off from Russian pipeline gas supplies in the summer of 2022.

Berlin passed the so-called LNG Acceleration Act to speed up the approval process for new LNG import terminals by temporarily exempting projects from certain requirements, particularly around environmental impact assessments.

Germany currently has floating LNG terminals in operation at three locations -- the Hoegh Esperanza at Wilhelmshaven, the Hoegh Gannet at Brunsbuttel and the Neptune at Mukran.

There had been two FSRUs in operation at Mukran, but operator Deutsche ReGas removed the second vessel -- the Energos Power -- from the site in mid-February.

The decision to remove the FSRU came after Deutsche ReGas in early February terminated its charter contract with the German economy ministry for the vessel.

There has been criticism, particularly from German environmental groups, that Germany had contracted to deploy too many FSRUs that could be surplus to requirements.

But government officials and the state regulator have argued that having spare capacity is key to ensuring supply security when it is needed most and to being able to supply other countries in Europe.

Germany imported a total of 4.9 million mt of LNG in 2024, down from 5.1 million mt in 2023, data from S&P Global Commodity Insights showed.

So far this year, only 930,000 mt of LNG has been imported into Germany, the data showed, with all but one cargo delivered from the US.

Germany can, however, also access regasified LNG landed at terminals in the Netherlands and Belgium.

It comes as spot LNG import prices remain high. Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed the DES Northwest Europe LNG marker at $12.40/MMBtu on March 27.