(Bloomberg) -- American gas exporters and German buyers of the power-plant fuel will meet next week in Berlin to speed up talks on how the U.S. can help the European industrial powerhouse wean itself off Russian supplies, people familiar with the plan said.  

The U.S. Embassy in Germany is coordinating the meeting with the liquefied natural gas suppliers, expected to take place after the March 29-30 Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue conference, said the people, asking not to be named because the information isn’t public. 

U.S. Embassy officials didn’t have an immediate comment.

The invasion of Ukraine forced Germany to halt approval of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that would have increased supplies of Russian gas to power and heat the country’s homes and factories. Germany depends on Russia for roughly 50% of its gas, but the EU has pledged to end dependence on Russian energy, so the country is now rushing to find alternatives. 

The developer of a planned German LNG terminal in Brunsbuettel, near Hamburg, is pushing to fast-track the project that has been planned for several years and has faced setbacks and permitting delays. 

Following the invasion of Ukraine, the German government this month stepped in as a partner for the terminal, and the country is now also looking to import more LNG from countries like Qatar. 

“They are in a hurry, they are pushing, they want the terminal to be built as soon as possible,” Marcel Tijhuis, senior business developer at German LNG Terminal GmbH, which is developing the project, said at a conference in Vienna this week. “With the entry of the German government, we hope the permitting process will get a really big push.”

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