Most liquid natural gas coming into Germany through state-owned North Sea terminals – dpa
dpa / Clean Energy Wire
State-owned liquid natural gas (LNG) terminals on the North Sea at Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel handled the majority of Germany’s imported LNG last year, and operated at 65 percent capacity, according to company statistics reported by the German press agency dpa.
Deutsche Regas, the privately-owned operator of two terminals on the Baltic Sea, has warned of “unfair competition” from the state-owned Deutsche Energy Terminal GmbH (DET) that receives public money to support its operation. Estimates from the industry association Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) suggest a lower utilisation level at Deutsche Regas terminals, although the company itself did not disclose such figures. Of the 67.6 terawatt hours (TWh) of LNG that Germany imported last year, 8.5 TWh came through Deutsche Regas terminals at Lubmin and Mukran, according to GIE data. The terminal in Wilhelmshaven fed around 37.5 TWh into the grid last year, while the Brunsbüttel terminal fed around 21.6 TWh.
In December, the European Commission allowed the German government to support DET with a package of four billion euros, which has allowed the company to pursue “a much more aggressive pricing policy” according to Ingo Wagner, managing partner of Deutsche Regas. DET is able to offer import capacities at lower prices, which amounts to an “unlawful distortion of competition,” Wagner added. DET insisted that its pricing is compliant with regulatory requirements, with auction prices meant to maintain the operational readiness of the terminals.
ICIS analyst Andreas Schröder said that two years after the first German import terminal’s inauguration “the market situation is challenging.” German terminals relied heavily on volumes traded short-term on spot markets, mostly of American origin. A reliance on spot volumes put German terminals at a disadvantage compared to terminals in neighbouring countries, as short-term capacity bookings are usually more expensive than long-term capacity bookings, said Schröder.
Still heavily reliant on fossil fuel imports, Germany sources about 95 percent of its gas needs from abroad after undergoing a major shift in its energy supply following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Before the war, Russia was the main supplier of oil, gas and hard coal to Germany, covering 55 percent of the country's gas demand. Now, Norway has become the dominant supplier of gas to Germany, providing 48 percent of the fuel crossing the border into the country in 2024.
