Since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Germany has been trying to reduce energy supplies from Russia.

According to Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), things are going well.

In some cases, the Russian share is already falling, he says.

Germany is supposed to be independent of Russian hard coal by autumn and “virtually independent” of Russian oil imports by the end of the year.

But Habeck expects natural gas deliveries for another two years.

It will only be possible to become largely independent of Russian gas by mid-2024.

Jan Hauser

Editor in Business.

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Habeck said on Friday that important milestones had been reached in order to break free from the grip of Russian imports.

"It is the great consensus of the international community to make themselves independent of Russian energy supplies in order to put a stop to Putin's work," he said at a press conference in the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The gas supply is particularly difficult.

In recent years, the Russian share of natural gas deliveries in Germany and Europe has been around half.

According to estimates, this fell to around 40 percent in Germany in the first three months of this year because other countries are supplying more.

Three floating terminals

In order for Russia's share to fall further, energy should be saved, renewable energy sources expanded and more gas coming from other countries.

Three floating LNG terminals should help.

The energy companies RWE and Uniper have secured an option for these liquid gas plants on behalf of the federal government, as Habeck has now announced.

The floating terminals in Germany are scheduled to go into operation this year and next.

For the energy supply, he also highlighted announcements from the relief package that the traffic light coalition announced on Thursday.

Habeck is counting on the fact that from 2024 new gas heaters may only be installed in exceptional cases.

The government will also launch a program to replace oil and gas heating systems.

He called it a big step for energy efficiency. "I would like to thank everyone who is now doing their part to make us independent of Russian energy supplies," he said: "Every kilowatt hour saved helps and harms Putin."

Floating Gas Terminals

While natural gas from Russia mainly comes to Germany through pipelines through Eastern Europe, liquid gas from America, Canada or Qatar is transported by ship.

So far, Germany itself has no reception infrastructure for this, but is dependent on corresponding terminals abroad, such as in the Netherlands.

Therefore, the government is now trying to ensure that LNG terminals are quickly built inland, such as in Brunsbüttel, to accommodate more liquid gas than before.

At the same time, Habeck sees himself in an exchange with the Netherlands that Germany will receive more capacity through their plants.

The United States of America wants to supply more liquid gas to the EU this year.

This was announced by US President Joe Biden together with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday in Brussels.

According to the Commission, this should replace around a third of current gas imports from Russia.

However, there is talk of an additional 15 billion cubic meters of LNG this year, which is less than five percent of the total consumption in the EU.

Only in the long term is this expected to increase to 50 billion cubic meters per year.