RoydadNaft –  Germany must strengthen rather than abandon the liquefied natural gas (LNG) capability built last year to retain energy diversity in the face of continued fragility of supply, a senior economy ministry official told an industry event on Tuesday.

Three floating storage and reception units (FSRUs) at the Wilhelmshaven, Brunsbuettel and Lubmin terminals served to attract much-needed LNG shipments to supplement pipeline deliveries from the rest of Europe after Russia turned off the gas taps amid political hostilities around the war in Ukraine.

“It is not easy to make that clear when the feeling of a crisis is no longer existent,” Philipp Steinberg, head of the economic stabilisation and energy security unit in the ministry, said at a Handelsblatt newspaper industry conference.

Steinberg emphasised that the terminals are considered an integral part of Germany’s diversified energy strategy.

“It is self-understood that we also pursue energy efficiency, expanding renewables, diversification, expansion of hydrogen economies,” Steinberg said.

Once the LNG terminals are no longer needed, they can be sent to other destinations, hopefully at a profit, he added.