German "green gas" terminal fast-tracked due to energy crisis

Germany's energy transition may have gained a guiding hand due to the ongoing energy crisis thanks to Tree Energy Solutions (TES) deciding to bring its plans for a "green gas" importing hub forward two years due to rising fuel costs.

Soaring energy prices and the Russia-Ukraine war will only continue to threaten European energy prices, and the company confirmed its new terminal  - which forms part of its larger green hydrogen hub - was being adjusted to accommodate liquefied natural gas (LNG) in a bid to stem the crisis.

Read more: How the Russia-Ukraine war could impact energy markets

The H2 Import Terminal is part of a €25 billion scheme over the next ten years and could operate 10% of Germany's gas by 2045.

The project was set up in 2019 and could start by transporting around 25TWh of green gas per year, with plans to scale this up to as much as 250TWh annually by the time the hub hits full swing.

The company hopes the first phase of the project will be up-and-running by 2025.

"In view of our planned full scale, we are planning 6 independent tanks combined with 6 ship-berths using a novel approach with minimal environmental and visual impact. We are also willing to constructively accommodate any alternative gas importers and still ensure third-party access in line with current DG Energy regulations and practices", TES' managing director Paul van Poecke said.

"We believe that managing the current crisis should be done in such a way that long-term climate targets will and do not need to be compromised. The TES-Wilhelmshaven project is a unique project that can exactly do this", he added.

The hydrogen for the hub will be generated using solar, wind and hydropower in countries with abundant renewable energy infrastructure through electrolysis, before being shipped to Wilhelmshaven on a fleet of specially-designed ships.

The company reports the generated hydrogen will be turned into so-called "green methane" which will be used as an energy carrier. It will be converted back into hydrogen - by removing the carbon dioxide added during the development process via carbon capture - when it arrives at the hub.

The captured carbon will be returned to the countries where the hydrogen was produced, which TES hopes will form a closed-loop system.

“The primary objective of the European Union's decarbonisation policy is to achieve the fastest possible reduction of CO₂ emissions at the lowest possible cost”, Otto Waterlander, Chief Commercial Officer at TES, said. 

Read more: How close is Germany to its climate goals?

"Green hydrogen imported by TES will significantly accelerate the energy transition in Germany and help the mobility, industry and power sectors achieve their decarbonization targets and solve the energy storage problem. It will make an immediate impact on CO₂ emissions and eliminate customers’ exposure to significant CO₂ costs", he added.

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