German LNG Project Plans January Open Season

update on expected cost, start-up at end of article

Germany’s first planned LNG import terminal will hold an open season January 2018, its project manager, Eddie Lycklama of Dutch state-owned Gasunie, said in Lisbon November 30.

The planned onshore facility would respond to the phasing out of coal-fired and nuclear power in Germany, the ending of Dutch gas import contracts in 2026, and an anticipated increase in use of LNG as a road truck fuel, he told the CWC LNG conference.

The proposed 5bn m³/yr regas terminal would be at Brunsbuttel, close to both Hamburg, Europe’s third largest bunkering port, but also the Kiel Canal that connects the North and Baltic Seas, and capable of receiving Q-Flex LNG carriers of up to 210,000 m³.

Partners in the venture are Gasunie, Dutch terminals owner Vopak – both already partners in the Gate LNG terminal at Rotterdam – and Oiltanking, a subsidiary of Germany's Marquand & Bahls. Formation of the venture won EU approval in July 2017.

Lycklama said final investment decision is planned in 2019. His presentation did not include expected cost or start-up date.

E.ON former subsidiary Ruhrgas considered investing in an LNG import terminal at port of Wilhelmshaven on the German North Sea coast on several occasions since the 1970s, but that project never advanced.

Update 11.40am: Gasunie's Lycklama tells NGW that expected cost for the Brunsbuttel terminal is between 400mn and 500mn euros, with a target in-service date of 2022, and an expected FID date of 4Q2019. He also said the aim is to charge users of the terminal lower tariffs than are charged by the Gasunie-Vopak Gate terminal.