Germany's LNG import terminals
FRANKFURT, April 20 (Reuters) - Germany's liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project at Stade has picked a possible constructor and the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) at Brunsbuettel became fully operational this month in the latest developments for new import infrastructure.
Germany is looking to import gas using FSRUs to help replace the piped Russian supply on which it relied.
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Three FSRUs are now working at Wilhelmshaven, Brunsbuettel and Lubmin after Germany arranged their charter and onshore connections in record time.
Six FSRUs are due to be online spread over four sites by the end of 2023.
Follow-on, land-based terminal projects are also making progress for the more distant future.
Below are details:
WILHELMSHAVEN
Utility Uniper last December launched Germany's first FSRU operations at the deep-water port on the North Sea.
It plans to add a land-based ammonia reception terminal and cracker in the second half of this decade.
Tree Energy Solutions (TES) will operate a second FSRU from later in 2023 for five years, and plans, later on, to convert the operations to clean gases.
LUBMIN
The FSRU Neptune, privately chartered by Deutsche ReGas, early this year began LNG reception activities at the Baltic Sea port.
The gas is delivered to another storage vessel, the Seapeak Hispania, further away and shuttled to Lubmin in a set-up taking account of shallow water and aiming to protect local wildlife.
ReGas holds long-term LNG supply deals with French TotalEnergies and trading group MET.
Lubmin is also due to receive an FSRU leased by the government by the end of 2023.
BRUNSBUETTEL
The Brunsbuettel FSRU, operated by RWE's trading arm on the North Sea coast, received its first cargo in February and started regasification in March, before becoming operational in mid-April.
It is the forerunner of a land-based LNG facility that could start operations at the end of 2026, when an adjacent ammonia terminal could also start up. State bank KfW, Gasunie and RWE are stakeholders and Shell has committed itself to sizeable purchases.
STADE
The inland port on the river Elbe in January started work on a landing pier for an FSRU, which will be ready in the winter of 2023/24.
Project firm Hanseatic Energy Hub (HEH) is also planning a land-based terminal where it has allocated regasification capacity that could be operational in 2027, including volumes for state-controlled Sefe and utility EnBW. It identified a construction consortium this week.
HEH is backed by gas network company Fluxys, investment firm Partners Group, logistics group Buss and chemicals company Dow.
A final investment decision is expected in mid-2023. (Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Friederike Heine, Kirsten Donovan)