RWE CEO: Germany needs LNG terminal for broader supply base
FRANKFURT, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Germany needs a more diversified supply of gas, Markus Krebber, CEO of the country's largest power producer RWE , told an energy conference on Monday, adding that an LNG terminal was needed as part of this.
RWE is backing German LNG Terminal, a joint venture of Dutch gas network operator Gasunie [GSUNI.UL], German tank storage provider Oiltanking GmbH and Dutch storage company Vopak LNG Holding .
"We need a further diversified gas supply, above all in Germany," Krebber told the annual Handelsblatt energy summit, adding that while security of supply was currently based on nuclear, coal and gas, it would be eventually narrowed down to gas.
Germany is currently planning to phase out coal-fired power plants by 2030, while the country's three remaining nuclear plants will go offline at the end of the year under a previously agreed shutdown plan.
Given the resulting reliance on gas going forward, including new gas-fired power plants in Germany, which relies mostly on Russia for the fuel, new sources of supply would have to be opened up, Krebber said.
"That is why the discussion of a German LNG terminal for Germany must be part of the political agenda," he said.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Vera Eckert. Editing by Thomas Escritt and Miranda Murray)
((christoph.steitz@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 220 133 647;))