Experts have raised doubts about the feasibility of Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck’s plans to quickly import liquefied natural gas (LNG) to replace Russian natural gas.
The main problem is a lack of tankers for the transportation of LNG. According to Martin Kroeger, Managing Director of the German Shipowners' Association, there are no gas tankers in the German merchant fleet that can transport LNG over long distances. He pointed out that there were almost 500 LNG tankers available worldwide. However, the demand from other regions is high. Andreas Fischer, the economist at the Institute of German Economics in Cologne, also noted that most of the tankers were already tied to long-term contracts. Even if Germany has a sufficient number of tankers, there are simply not enough LNG volumes on the world market at the moment. In addition, the country does not have enough storage capacity to hold the fuel. In May, Germany started filling the country's largest gas storage facility, Rehden, which can hold around 4 billion cubic meters of gas.
What is more, there are no LNG terminals in Germany. Therefore, in order to have alternative supply options, the country has chartered two floating storage and regasification units. In total, Berlin plans to lease four floating liquefied natural gas terminals to wean itself off Russian gas.
