Having lost its Russian gas supplies, it was important for Germany to be able to import significantly more gas from Western Europe whereby the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Zeebrugge, Belgium, played a central role in securing the German and European energy supply. During his visit to the terminal, Federal Chancellor Scholz thanked our Belgian partners for their quick and neighbourly support. "This assistance" said the Federal Chancellor, "has made an extremely important contribution to Germany's energy security and to that of many other countries."

Getting through this winter without too many problems was the result of a concerted effort, which, as the Federal Chancellor summarised, was "a great joint achievement by Europe". Scholz said he was very confident "that this will also be the case next winter and in winters to come".

Ambitious targets for more liquefied gas, hydrogen, and wind power

Both Belgium and Germany wish to increase their feed-in capacities for LNG in order to be able to make even more use of it within the internal European market. Federal Chancellor Scholz welcomed the promised investments aimed at increasing the capacity of the pipelines.

Both countries also wish to construct a cross-border hydrogen pipeline network. "We will also make the necessary investment decisions regarding the hydrogen grid in Germany this year," said Scholz.

Improved coordination and connections between energy grids

The aim of this collaboration is to ensure a secure energy supply and to make more progress towards a carbon-neutral economy, to which end, the plan is to better coordinate and connect the energy grids.

The Federal Chancellor also said that there was further potential for cross-border projects when it came to the use of off-shore wind power terminals. The path to climate neutrality, he said, would involve turning the North Sea into a "production site for the electricity of the future".