Germany Counts on Chilled Gas to Keep Warm Over Winter
WILHELMSHAVEN, Germany — When a major energy company wanted to bring liquefied natural gas to Germany through the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven three years ago, the proposal hit a brick wall. The company couldn’t find enough customers, the government offered only tepid support and residents denounced the scheme as a threat to a local apple orchard.

“Apple juice, not L.N.G.,” protesters said. The company, Uniper, shelved its plans.

Now, steel pipes are being rammed into the sea floor to prepare for the arrival of a nearly thousand-foot-long L.N.G. processing vessel, the Höegh Esperanza. Nearby, construction crews in bulldozers are digging along the perimeter of a forest to clear the way for a new 20-mile pipeline to connect to Germany’s gas grid.

The hope is for gas to start arriving here before the end of winter, Uniper said, as the demand for heating homes soars.