German energy giant RWE has agreed to explore sourcing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United Arab Emirates, as Europe looks for ways to diversify its energy supplies amid growing geopolitical uncertainty.
RWE said on Friday it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) to look into importing up to one million tonnes of LNG per year over a ten-year period. That volume would be equivalent to around 1.7 per cent of Germany’s gas consumption in 2025, according to AFP calculations.
The agreement was announced during a visit to the UAE by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said earlier that Gulf countries could help Germany “diversify our oil and gas supply chains.”
RWE chief executive Markus Krebber said the move would help strengthen energy security. “By establishing new LNG supply agreements, we are strengthening the security of supply for Germany and across Europe,” he said.
Germany ramped up LNG imports from the Middle East and the United States after cutting its reliance on Russian gas following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But there are growing concerns that Europe may have simply swapped one dependency for another, especially with all the uncertainty around future US foreign and trade policies.
In a separate move, RWE also signed an MoU with Emirati renewable energy company Masdar to explore developing up to one gigawatt of battery energy storage capacity at its existing sites by 2030, with the option to add another gigawatt by 2035.
Battery storage is seen as critical to Germany’s energy transition, since it allows power generated from wind and solar to be stored and used when production drops off.
