Former German Chancellor Merkel defends natural gas and energy ties to Russia during 16-year tenure
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended her natural gas and energy ties to Russia during her 16-year tenure, including the building of the Nord Stream II gas pipeline from Russia under the Baltic Sea to Germany where LNG will soon replace Gazprom supplies.
German LNG plan
Feb 22 (LNGJ) - Hanseatic Energy Hub GmbH, a German company developing an LNG import terminal at the town of Stade on the Elbe River, said that the company still intended to submit application documents this summer to seek planning permission. “The plans for Germany's first LNG terminal are taking shape,” Hanseatic Energy managing partner Johann Killinger was cited as saying in the Hamburg-based newspaper “Die Zeit”. “In the most favourable case, the approval process could take one to one-and-a-half years and then the building starts,” said Killinger.
He added that the terminal was expected to cost €800 million ($907M) and would be adjacent to a plant owned by US multinational Dow Chemical. “Natural gas as a fossil energy source is still needed. The early phase-out of coal and the phase-out of nuclear power (in Germany) should be completed by the end of the year. But it doesn't work without gas. The share will even have to increase before you can say goodbye to gas,” stated the executive.
