By  Lucas Minisini

Published on January 7, 2023

FeatureOn the Baltic Sea coast, the village is the endpoint for the Nord Stream pipelines through which Germany can tap into cheap Russian gas. But since the war in Ukraine, the tap has been turned off.

Usually, the Baltic Sea is calm. Along the four kilometers of snow-covered beach that form the coastline of Lubmin, in northeast Germany, there's nothing to suggest the presence of the famous Nord Stream pipelines. However, from this town of 2,100 inhabitants in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in the former GDR, the underwater infrastructure that connects St. Petersburg, Russia, to the European continent has been providing cheap gas to all of Germany since 2012. In September 2022, a mysterious explosion damaged those facilities and buried this partnership, which had already been called into question by the invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Since then, the price of gas has almost tripled in the region.

Since the beginning of the war, Lubmin has become famous worldwide. 'Even President Joe Biden knows about us,' said a resident.

In the village battered by icy winds, at the entrance of the only hotel in Lubmin, the Hotel Seebrücke, 74-year-old owner Heidrun Moritz asked the question that most of the residents have been wondering about: "Why not simply reopen Nord Stream?" Wearing a flowery apron, and with her eyes fixed on the sea, she was worried about the winter. The temperatures, already negative on this December 14, are expected to continue to drop, and she doesn't know how long she'll be able to heat her 12 rooms, which she has been renting out non-stop since 1983.

The once bustling restaurant in Lubmin has become a shadow of its former self due to rising prices that have deterred customers from indulging in their favorite ice cream or fish dishes while enjoying Christmas music in the background. The owner, a biology graduate who learned Russian in school, expressed frustration at the stalled construction of the planned extension to the one-story building, which has been in progress for years. As she stands at the counter adorned with numerous owls of varying sizes, Heidrun Moritz deplored the fact that the residents of Lubmin are "all victims of geopolitics."

'Energy capital'

Lubmin has become a symbol of Germany's energy dependence on Russia. The presence of Nord Stream AG in the municipality has brought in an annual income of between €1.5 and €2 million in local taxes, earning it the nickname of the "energy capital" of the country. However, journalists are now unwelcome in the peaceful and well-maintained streets of Lubmin, as many residents have grown tired of the constant questioning about energy and Nord Stream. When contacted by email, Mayor Axel Vogt declined to meet with Le Monde, stating that the villagers of Lubmin would like nothing more than to return to a state of "peace and tranquility." As a politically unaffiliated mayor responsible for the operation of the municipality's port and a strong supporter of local energy policy, Mr. Vogt's perspective on the matter carries significant weight.

Many people have chosen to settle in Lubmin for their retirement, drawn to the comfortable houses on the edge of the forest, or to raise their children in a small town located about 30 kilometers from the university city of Greifswald. Despite being located in a region of Germany with high unemployment rates (around 9%), Lubmin has attracted new residents due to planned housing developments that will accommodate families or workers from across the European Union. The town has also accepted Ukrainian refugees, though this decision was met with hesitation from the town hall and with criticism from residents due to the village's historical ties to Russia. Since the beginning of the war, Lubmin has gained worldwide recognition. "Even Joe Biden, the president of the United States, knows about us," said one resident on an icy street with a touch of pride.

A new controversial project

As the end of 2022 approached, the town of Lubmin remained in the news due to the Neptune, a massive ship owned by TotalEnergies that is stationed offshore. Measuring 283 meters in length and 55 meters in height, the ship is filled with liquefied gas. Its purpose is to launch a methanol port, also known as an "LNG terminal," in Lubmin. The gas, largely exported from Qatar, is cooled to -160°C to maintain its liquid form before being transported to the mainland via small boats suitable for the shallow waters off the coast. Although the recent Qatargate controversy may complicate matters, Germany has plans to build a total of 11 terminals of this type, with the first one having been inaugurated on December 12 along the North Sea coast.

Funded by Stephan Knabe and Ingo Wagner, a tax consultant and real estate entrepreneur from Potsdam near Berlin, the port of Lubmin would provide 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year to thousands of households through their startup, Deutsche ReGas. A significant decrease from the 55 billion cubic meters per year transported by Nord Stream 1 before September. However, according to the Lubmin pastor Katrin Krüger, "no one wants this project." Despite the lack of support, Ms. Krüger wondered if the town truly has any other options. She has observed an increase in "depressed" worshippers at her 50-seat church, which was heated to only 17°C due to rising prices.

Environmental activists in the region are concerned about the potential danger of a gas terminal in Lubmin, which is located near the Rügen and Usedom islands, important fishing and biodiversity reserves. They warned that the constant movement of polluting boats could disrupt the flow of sand and hinder the creation of oxygen in the water, which is generated by currents. Susanna Knotz, a member of BUND, the German federation for the environment and nature conservation, said that "this project would endanger the most important swan molting area in northern Germany, located very close to Lubmin."

The environmental activist stated that, despite repeated requests from various NGOs, Deutsche ReGas has only provided temporary access to documents outlining the environmental impact of the project, rather than making them publicly and indefinitely accessible as required by law. The company cited "security reasons" for this decision, without providing further information. The launch of the gas terminal, which was originally scheduled for December 1, has been postponed for several weeks without any explanation. Deutsche ReGas's communication department has simply referred to a "complicated period" in a brief email.

A long golden age

Thanks to the energy industry, Lubmin has experienced a long golden age. In the late 1960s, a nuclear power plant was built there by the Soviet Union. Advertised as "the largest in the entire GDR," it supplied more than 10% of the electricity consumed in East Germany and employed a little over 8,000 people. A job that paid twice as much as a professor's position in the communist territory, which made everyone "very proud," said Olaf Strauss, 56, who is now a technology and innovation consultant at the University of Neubrandenburg, about 80 kilometers south of Lubmin.

Hired in 1983, the young man became responsible for transferring electricity produced in the east German network, under the strict control of the Stasi, the GDR's intelligence services, whose informants were present in every department. "There was even an office for spies in the building," said the professor with a smile, in a café in Greifswald, a city near Lubmin. At the time, the engineer with a mullet participated in football tournaments with the power plant team, drank beers with his colleagues, and often fell asleep on the beach in Lubmin after his night shift to enjoy the scenery.

The village, where dozens of houses were built in a few years, became one of the "biggest economic centers in the region," with a bright future. But everything stopped in 1990. The reunified Germany refused to continue the Soviet project and began a long process of dismantling the nuclear power plant (which today still employs a little over 800 people). Some of the former employees then applied to work in Western Germany's power plants while others preferred to change careers. Thousands of workers lost their jobs overnight. "But here, the ties with Russia never disappeared," said Mr. Strauss.

A grand opening

On November 8, 2011, the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline was inaugurated with great fanfare. The then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, hailed a "new chapter in the partnership between Russia and the European Union" in front of 450 guests, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, French Prime Minister François Fillon, Matthias Warnig, a former Stasi officer close to Vladimir Putin and CEO of Nord Stream AG, and Gerhard Schröder, the former German Chancellor, who arrived by helicopter.

"The Chancellor opened the gas pipeline herself, in front of the cameras and photographers of the world," said Volker Erckmann, a retired physicist, member of the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science and founder of a research institute in Greifswald, who was present that day. After several projects rejected by the inhabitants, including a Danish coal plant and an incineration plant for the waste of the city of Naples, Italy, Lubmin rejoiced in this unique partnership and its seemingly endless financial windfall. "Nobody had imagined that an excessive dependence on Russia could become a problem," the 72-year-old scientist said, over slices of gingerbread and coffee in the living room of his spacious house, a few dozen meters from the sea.

The first doubts

The first doubts arose in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and invaded the Donbas region. The project for a Nord Stream 2 system, launched in 2018, which could double amounts sent to Western Europe, became a source of political tensions between the European Union and the United States, which was firmly opposed to the idea. According to Mr. Erckmann, the inhabitants of Lubmin rejected American doubts, which they considered as "outside interference."

Thanks to a "foundation for the protection of the environment and climate," a state organization that he almost entirely finances, the Russian energy giant Gazprom was able to bypass the economic sanctions planned by the United States to penalize western companies involved in the project. The construction of the new gas pipeline continued. Nord Stream 2 was completed in September 2021, but five months later, Russia invaded Ukraine and the 1,220-kilometer pipeline, which was operational, wasn't put into service in the end. "Everyone was extremely disappointed," said the physicist.

The inhabitants then decided to fight. One week after the sabotage of Nord Stream, in September 2022, which completely stopped the shipment of Russian gas (whose volumes had already been gradually reduced by Gazprom), 1,800 people gathered in Lubmin to demand the opening of the two pipelines. At the demonstration in front of the town hall, near the old railway station, Russian flags were displayed alongside slogans against the restrictions linked to Covid-19 and T-shirts with Nazi symbols, which can be seen in a video by the local media outlet Katapult present at the gathering.

Three Ukrainian refugees were threatened by demonstrators for holding up signs condemning the "murderous" Russian state: "You should leave, you don't want to know what will happen to you if you stay here," warned one of them, according to several journalists on the spot. Far-right political figures, such as the Austrian Martin Sellner, leader of the Identitären Bewegung Österreich movement, close to the American alt-right, crowded in front of the entrance to the Nord Stream power plant, amidst smoke bombs and declarations in favor of Vladimir Putin. The 30-year-old, banned from entering the United Kingdom, demanded the reopening of the facilities, without success.

Today, protests continue, but the Russian gas pipeline has taken a back seat to the now primarily anti-government demands. According to Mr. Erckmann, who has nevertheless decided to enjoy his retirement in this "turbulent" village, Nord Stream has become a source of frustration in the quiet streets of Lubmin. With a sad smile, the 70-year-old concluded: "Here, all projects end up failing..."

Looking for new sources of revenue

Today, the people of Lubmin are a bit lost. Recently, the town council has started building a museum about the history of the village, mainly to tell its long tradition of fishing, the former local livelihood, which is now almost extinct. Since the end of Nord Stream, local businesses are struggling to find new sources of income, potentially more environmentally friendly. "Plans have been drawn up for the construction of a hydrogen power plant," explained Rainer Sauerwein, 77, an environmental activist based on the island of Usedom, about 50 kilometers to the east. To power it, the wind turbines in the nearby village of Wusterhusen could be requisitioned. Several dozen new, more powerful models should also be built on the island of Rügen, opposite Lubmin.

The latest idea, a bio-fuel power plant, which runs on agricultural waste, has just been launched on the site of the old nuclear power plant. But for the German environmentalist, these are just "fantasies" aimed at camouflaging the region's investments in fossil fuels. Only tourism has remained stable in the small seaside resort on the Baltic Sea. A few tens of thousands of people travel to the guesthouses each summer to enjoy the long beach, which is less crowded than those on the neighboring islands. "The big hotel chains have never invested here," said the former scientist. "They were afraid of the energy industry, which is still quite dominant."

On the outskirts of the city, near the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, right next to the marina, it's impossible to talk to employees working for Nord Stream AG. They have all been instructed not to talk to the press. Contrary to expectations, almost no one lost their job. Wearing fluorescent safety vests, several dozen of them are still working in the facilities, mostly to maintain the pipes. Many of the residents hope this is a sign that the pipelines may one day return to service.

Note: if you are interested in this subject, Germán & Co has written a series of essays on this topic.

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