RWE Reserves Capacity at German LNG Terminal
German utility RWE has booked a big chunk of the capacity in a new LNG import terminal planned for opening by end-2022 in northern Germany, but has declined to say exactly how much.
RWE said September 6 it has reached agreement with German LNG Terminal – the joint venture driving forward Germany’s first LNG terminal in Brunsbuttel in northern Germany – to book "a considerable part of the terminal’s capacity on a long-term basis." RWE said it has signed a 'heads of agreement' contract that guarantees RWE access to substantial annual capacity.
The total capacity of the combined LNG import and small-scale terminal will be 5bn m3/yr. German LNG Terminal is a joint venture of Dutch firms Gasunie and Vopak with a German partner Oiltanking; the venture four months ago said it was "delighted" with the outcome of its Open Season which opened January 2018 but did not at that stage disclose what companies had applied for capacity.
German LNG Terminal said: "Negotiations with other interested parties are ongoing. In addition, the engineering work for the permit approval process is progressing well. If all relevant permits have been obtained and there is sufficient interest in the market, the final investment decision is envisaged for late 2019. Construction work will then start in 2020 with the terminal being fully operational by end-2022."
Reuters also quoted Qatar Petroleum Sept.6 saying it was "in talks with Germany’s RWE and rival Uniper about co-operating on a potential LNG terminal" in Germany in which Qatar might invest. Asked specifically by NGW about the Reuters report about Qatari/RWE/Uniper interest, the German LNG Terminal spokesperson simply repeated: "Negotiations with other interested parties are ongoing."
Gasunie and Vopak are 50-50% owners in the 12bn m3/yr Gate LNG terminal in Rotterdam, opened 2011, in which RWE and Uniper were among the four firms that each originally booked 3bn m3/yr long-term capacity there 10-12 years ago. It's believed each retain the capacities at the generally under-used terminal, but sometimes sub-let loading slots to third parties.
An RWE spokesman declined to tell NGW the precise amount of capacity reserved at Brunsbuttel, adding that "Except through Gate LNG, we have no long-term access to regas capacities."
German LNG Terminal also declined to disclose the RWE capacity booking, but did tell NGW the expected cost of its terminal project remains €400mn to €500mn , as stated by Gasunie in November 2017.
RWE Supply & Trading chief commercial officer for gas supply Andree Stracke said: "We believe that together with German LNG Terminal we can fully develop a significant business around the terminal delivering LNG and gas to our customers in Germany and throughout Europe. LNG remains a key growth area for RWE: this agreement will enable us to continue growing our portfolio and provide us with additional flexibility to take advantage of new opportunities as they present themselves in the global LNG market.” It recently deepened its energy trading links with the Far East.
The three partners in German LNG Terminal jointly said that RWE's agreement "clearly demonstrates that the market is committed to Germany’s first LNG terminal."