LNG

Jan 8 (LNGJ) - Klaipėdos Nafta, the operator of the LNG import terminal in the Baltic state of Lithuania, will now become the commercial manager of four German LNG terminals. “KN Energies AB has kicked off the year 2024 by securing the public tenders for the commercial management of four German terminals,” said KN Energies.

   The Lithuanians said that on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, they would operate the existing floating facility at the German North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven as a well as a planned second facility. They would also operate the Brunsbüttel terminal on the Elbe and would additionally be responsible for the planned LNG terminal in the Port of Stade on the Lower Elbe.

The German Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig has rejected the first of two appeals brought by farmers in Northern Germany over the temporary confiscation of their land so that natural gas pipelines could be constructed and linked to an existing floating LNG import terminal at Brunsbüttel on the Elbe River and a planned onshore terminal nearby.

Contrary to what is suggested in the political discussions, it is hardly the price of gas that increases the price of electricity, themain driver now in the European Union and particularly in Germany is the carbon-dioxide (CO2) price that gas-fired and coal-fired power plants have to pay for their emissions. 

Macquarie Capital, the investment banking arm of the Australian Macquarie bank group, said it would continue to work with Deutsche ReGas GmbH, the German owner of the floating LNG terminal at the Baltic port of Lubmin as the company plans to expand its operations.

Deutsche ReGas had earlier proposed to more than double the 5.2 billion cubic metres of regasification capacity by 2025, though now has plans for a slightly earlier expansion and investment.

Macquarie’s stake in German LNG is being overseen by a dedicated but operationally independent subsidiary of the Sydney-based bank called WaveCrest Energy LLC.

“The WaveCrest management team has an established track record of bringing LNG and related energy projects from concept to operations, utilizing its deep technical and operating experience with FSRU assets,” said a statement.

“Macquarie Capital and WaveCrest will continue to look for further opportunities to work with Deutsche ReGas as the business looks to more than double the Ostsee (Baltic)  terminal’s regasification capacity,” Macquarie added.

Multiple projects

Germany is continuing to develop LNG import infrastructure at ports along the coast, also including Wilhelmshaven in the North Sea and the Elbehafen project at Brunsbüttel on the Elbe River north of Hamburg.

The build-out of projects will enable the country to have substantial and regular cargo imports to replace Russian pipeline gas volumes.

The Lubmin floating LNG terminal, which has already been feeding gas into the German grid during commissioning operations since the beginning of January, is the first privately financed LNG terminal in Germany.

The Deutsche ReGas project has three small-scale LNG shuttle tankers working between a floating storage unit (FSU) moored near the Baltic port and a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), the “Neptune”,’ inside the small inner port at Lubmin.

Deutsche ReGas is now planning to install a second floating LNG terminal by the end of 2023 which, alongside a number of potential capacity upgrades, could increase  Lubmin’s import capacity to 13.5 Bcm of natural gas.

“This would make the potential import capacity of the terminal equivalent to over 14 percent of Germany’s 2021 domestic gas consumption, and over a third of Germany’s forecast LNG import capacity in 2024,” added Macquarie.

Excelerate FSRU veteran

Rob Bryngelson, the CEO of of the Macquarie WaveCrest unit based in Houston, noted that that the banks portfolio LNG company was only created in 2021, though has one of the most experienced LNG management teams in the business,

Bryngelson himself is the former CEO of US LNG FSRU specialist Excelerate Energy and he said the team had worked to complete 13 floating LNG import projects over 15 years.

“WaveCrest Energy is pleased to be part of such a technically challenging and economically important project for Germany,” explained Bryngelson.

“We are well positioned to provide smart capital to projects by combining the strength of our owner, Macquarie Capital, with our team’s industry-leading expertise,” he declared.

Stephan Knabe, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche ReGas, noted that the company was gratified to have the support of the Australian bank as wel as WaveCrest.

“We would like to thank Macquarie Capital and the WaveCrest team for supporting our project,” said Knabe.

“With their expertise, they played a significant role in enabling us to officially open the LNG terminal on January 14. We hope for more successful cooperation,” added Knabe.

Nicholas Gole, Senior Managing Director at Macquarie Capital, said he was delighted to work with Deutsche ReGas to help develop a vital new energy supply solution for Germany.

“In these challenging times, we need sustainable, pragmatic, and timely energy solutions, and we will continue to look for opportunities to support other important energy projects like the ‘Deutsche Ostsee’ venture,” stated Gole. 

Oct 13 (LNGJ) - The 173,400 cubic metres capacity vessel “Flex Constellation” is scheduled to deliver a US LNG cargo on October 19 to the UK South Hook import terminal at Milford Haven, according to shipping data. The cargo was lifted on October 4 from Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi export plant in Texas.

   In other shipping movements, the 211,980 cubic metres capacity Qatari Q-Flex carrier “Al Rekayyat” was traversing the English Channel on October 13 enroute to deliver a cargo on October 17 to the Polish Swinoujscie import terminal on the Baltic Sea coast. The cargo was loaded at Ras Laffan in the Arabian Gulf on September 26.

May 20 (LNGJ) - Excelerate Energy, the US floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) specialist, has signed a 10-year contract in Helsinki to deploy the 150,900 cubic metres capacity FSRU “Exemplar” to supply LNG to Finland, Estonia and the Baltic Sea region.

   Excelerate President and Chief Executive Steven Kobos, Gasgrid Finland CEO Olli Sipilä and Gasgrid Finland Chairman Kai-Petteri Purhonen signed the contract at the Government Palace in Helsinki in a ceremony also attended by Finnish Minister of Finance Annika Saarikko and US Ambassador to Finland Douglas Hickey. “Flexible access to LNG is a critical component of European energy security,” said Kobos. “We are honored to collaborate with Gasgrid Finland to deliver essential energy infrastructure that will benefit Finland and more broadly the Baltic Sea region,” added the Excelerate CEO.

Finland has drawn up plans to charter a liquefied natural gas floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in cooperation with its fellow European Union and Baltic Sea regional neighbour Estonia.

Elenger, the energy company in the Baltic state of Estonia, has taken delivery of the first of a Damen Shipyard-built liquefied natural gas bunkering vessel, the first LNG fuel supplier deployed in the Gulf of Finland to serve ships and shoreside small-scale customers.

The “Optimus” is 100-metres in length with 6,000 cubic metres of capacity in two type-C tanks.

The deployment of the ship involved multinational efforts from project participants in China, Estonia, Russia, the Netherlands and France.

“Its introduction is expected to accelerate the wider adoption of LNG as a cleaner alternative fuel in the Baltic Sea by providing a mobile and efficient ship-to-ship distribution service for the first time,” said Elenger.

The vessel loaded LNG in the port at Vysotsk island in Russia and headed to Tallinn in Estonia.

The bunkering vessel was built in China at the Damen Shipyard in Yichang City, located on the left bank of the Yangtze River.

The construction was overseen by French classification society Bureau Veritas.

Gas trials for the “Optimus” were completed in the Damen Verolme shipyard in the Dutch port of Rotterdam.

The owner of the “Optimus” is Estonian investment company Infortar and Elenger is the charterer.

“Optimus is designed to meet the requirements of ICE class 1A certification and to achieve green ship notation,” said Elenger.

“A dual-fuel propulsion system is used for the management of the boil-off gas in combination with a gas boiler system, and the interior of the vessel features high-quality accommodation for her crew,” added the company.

“With this first LNG bunkering vessel, Elenger has significantly expanded its LNG distribution business in the Baltic region,” said the company.

It has been supplying one of the leading regional ferry companies, Tallink Group, for the past five years, refuelling its LNG-fuelled RoPax ferry “Megastar” using multiple specialist trucks.

The “Megastar “will be one of the first beneficiaries of the arrival of “Optimus”, followed in spring 2022 by Tallink’s new LNG-fuelled RoPax ferry “MyStar”.

Ain Hanschmidt, Chief Executive of the Estonian-based owners, investment firm Infortar, said its strategy is to invest in safe and sustainable LNG supply for various maritime customers in the Gulf of Finland region.

The construction of the “Optimus” was supported by the European Union Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) funding programme and was co-financed by the leading financial services group in Finland, OP Financial Group.

Novatek, the largest Russian natural gas company after Gazprom and operator of the Yamal liquefied natural gas export plant in northern Siberia, has issued third-quarter production and sales details showing higher domestic gas sales and much lower volumes of LNG sold.

Sept 10 (LNGJ) - Gazprom has awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the construction of a Baltic Coast liquefied natural gas plant with 13 million tonnes per annum of output within the Gas Processing Complex (GPC) at Ust-Luga, west of St. Petersburg. A consortium comprising Germany’s Linde and Turkish company Renaissance Heavy Industries will build the plant and handle the installation of two LNG production Trains.

   “A technology patented in Russia will be used to produce this LNG,” said Gazprom. “The patent holders for the technology are Gazprom and Linde,” it added. The LNG plant will operate within the GPC facility near Ust-Luga operated by RusKhimAlyans, a joint venture of Gazprom and RusGazDobycha.