Utility RWE's trading arm on Feb. 15 received the first cargo of LNG under a deal with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) as part of German efforts to ensure supply after cuts to Russian gas exports.

The cargo was delivered on the vessel ISH to floating LNG terminal "Hoegh Gannet" at Brunsbuettel port, ushering in regular import flows to Europe's biggest economy.

The terminal was chartered by RWE on behalf of the German government. The gas will be fed into onshore pipelines from the end of this month, an RWE statement said.

Germany has been increasing LNG purchases via existing European terminals and built up floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) terminals on its coastlines in record time.

ADNOC and RWE agreed to a deal last year on several years of LNG supplies to Germany from 2023.

The gas cargo would be equivalent to roughly 900 million kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to supply about a quarter of a million German homes for a year, ADNOC said.

"I am pleased that we have ADNOC as a strong partner at our side and that we are working together to make Germany's energy supply as secure as possible," said Andree Stracke, chief executive of RWE Supply & Trading.

Germany's multi-layered strategy to cope without Russian gas also includes increased imports from European neighbors via North Sea gas pipelines, gas savings drives and the building of inventories.

"ADNOC Gas stands ready to provide further shipments of this key transition fuel to our partner, RWE and German industry," ADNOC Gas acting CEO Ahmed Alebri was quoted as saying in the RWE statement.

The United Arab Emirates also looks forward to continuing its work with Germany to find innovative solutions for a more sustainable future, including through joint work on the Emirati-German Hydrogen Task Force, the UAE's ambassador in Germany, Ahmed Al Attar, told Reuters.

A total of six FSRUs will become operational this year in Germany, to be replaced in future years by land-based regasification terminals as they become operational.

Further ahead, RWE and peers have plans to build import terminals for green ammonia and hydrogen to convert the coastal sites to import and produce low-carbon fuels.