Only liquefied natural gas from Canada is “medium term.”

The federal government, which leaves for Canada on Sunday with a large business delegation, expects only a significant increase in Canadian gas supplies in the “medium term,” according to government sources. In the wake of the gas crisis, environmentalists have criticized previously shelved gas projects being brought back for trade with Canada.

Canada is one of the world’s largest producers of natural gas. However, there are no special terminals to convert shippable gas into liquefied natural gas (LNG) for export to Europe. Related projects have not been pursued for years due to opposition from the population and concerns about climate protection and economics.

Due to the lack of gas supplies from Russia, Germany is currently looking for alternative gas suppliers. President Olaf Scholes (SPD) and Economy Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) are now on a two-day visit to Canada with business delegations. Apart from geopolitical issues such as dealing with Russia and China, energy policy will also be discussed.

According to government sources, large-scale supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is expected only in a few years. “On the Canadian side, the plans are not that far along,” the government in Ottawa said, adding that the government in Ottawa should “make progress” with Canadian provincial governments on infrastructure expansion. But Berlin did not give up hope.

“All the alarm bells are ringing for us,” Constantin Zerger from German Environmental Aid (DUH) told the AFP news agency. Current disturbances cannot be removed in this way; Instead, planned gas terminals will “cement” “new fossil biases.” Gas production in Canada is also problematic. Environmentalists and aboriginal groups in Canada have been campaigning against new gas plants for years.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal government is well aware of the domestic political explosiveness of the topic: Berlin is primarily focused on the hydrogen topic. Canada’s Atlantic provinces have “tremendous” potential to produce energy from renewable sources such as wind and hydro, a government official said. The idea is that this energy can be converted into hydrogen and exported to Europe.

However, this outlook is longer than potential Canadian LNG imports. Both the expansion of renewables and the necessary hydrogen technology in Canada are still in their infancy. The federal government wants to start this collaboration with the hydrogen deal with the Canadian government.