FRANKFURT, Aug 2 (Reuters) - German plans for liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals have picked up speed since Berlin declared them vital to its effort to diversify away from Russian energy.

Germany in May leased four floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) for the import of at least 5 billion cubic metres a year each of seaborne gas, of which two are due to become available this year.

Wilhelmshaven will become the first hub for handling LNG and Brunsbuettel the second, to be developed by Uniper and RWE respectively.

In July, the economy ministry identified the Elbe river port of Stade and Lubmin on the Baltic Sea as the two other recipients of the remaining FSRUs.

WILHELMSHAVEN

Uniper has received approval for the immediate start of construction of the FSRU facility, with activity to begin from the end of 2022.

Later it wants to import ammonia and set up an electrolysis plant for turning ammonia into clean hydrogen.

BRUNSBUETTEL

The hub is working on the FSRU to deliver gas from the end of 2022 or early in 2023, as a forerunner of a fixed LNG facility.

State bank KfW and RWE are stakeholders of the fixed facility. Shell has committed itself to some guaranteed purchases.

Dutch gas network operator Gasunie, which has a 40% stake in the FSRU project, is planning two related gas pipelines.

STADE

Project operator Hanseatic Energy Hub (HEH), due to receive an FSRU to go into operation from the end of next year, previously launched invitations to market participants to book regasification capacity at a planned land-based hub.

This could materialise in 2026, and be ready to accommodate ammonia later on.

It is backed by gas network firm Fluxys, investment firm Partners Group, logistics group Buss and chemicals company Dow.

EnBW has committed itself as a buyer. ]

Applications for the terminal and port have been submitted. A final investment decision is expected next year.

LUBMIN

The economy ministry said the operators of the fourth state-leased FSRU expect to be ready for operation at the end of 2023 at the earliest.

A fifth FSRU might be taken into service even earlier by a private consortium, it said.

(Reporting by Vera Eckert; Editing by Ed Osmond, Bradley Perrett and Jan Harvey)