Brunsbüttel LNG Pipelines

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Brunsbüttel LNG Pipelines are natural gas pipelines to serve the Brunsbüttel LNG terminals in Germany.

Location

The pipelines connect two terminals planned in Brunsbüttel — Brunsbüttel LNG Terminal and Brunsbüttel FSRU — to the existing natural gas network in Germany.

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Project details

Pipeline 1 (Port to SH Netz)

• Operator: Gasunie
• Owner: Gasunie
• Parent company: Gasunie
• Capacity:
• Length: 3 km
• Diameter: 600mm
• Status: Proposed
• Start year: 2023 (inferred from timeline of associated terminal)
• Cost: €120 million
• Financing:
• Associated infrastructure: Brunsbüttel FSRU

Pipeline 2 (Brunsbüttel to Hetlingen)

• Operator: Gasunie
• Owner: Gasunie
• Parent company: Gasunie
• Capacity: 800mm
• Length: 55 km
• Diameter:
• Status: Proposed
• Start year: 2024
• Cost:
• Associated infrastructure: Brunsbüttel LNG Terminal

Background

The pipelines were submitted for approval to the German government in 2022, arising as part of the associate terminals. Gasunie is behind the pipelines, citing the LNG Acceleration Act that came into force on 1 June 2022.

Pipeline 1, associated with the FSRU, was expected to be operational by the end of 2022, and Friedrich Vorwerk was awarded the contract for its construction, within a joint venture with Austraia's Habau Group. Construction on Pipeline 2 was expected to begin in 2023.

The Brunsbüttel LNG Terminal and associated pipelines are in receipt of €40 million of German state aid.

Opposition

German group Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) submitted official comments in August 2022 calling for the longer of the two pipelines to be rejected for approval. The group noted this pipeline would serve the longer-term, onshore Brunsbüttel LNG Terminal, noting the shorter pipeline should only be allowed if it were to serve the short-term gas crisis. The pipeline has come under criticism for numerous activists for being "massively oversized". The pipeline was approved after just a two week public consultation period.

A local farmer noted that moor layers must be drained to build the pipelines, and this drainage process releases greenhouse gases.

In November 2023, while the pipeline was still under construction, several leaks were detected. Sabotage was suspected and the matter was reported to German law enforcement. Clean Energy Wire reported that activists had drilled holes in the pipeline in at least 8 sections.