LNG

Excelerate Energy, the leading US-based LNG terminal provider in the form of floating storage and regasification units, reported much improved third-quarter results and higher future earnings prospects as projects advanced for Germany and Finland.

Excelerate posted net income for the three months to the end of September of $37.3 million compared with $1.4M in the 2021 quarter.

Revenues for Excelerate in the quarter showed a more than four-fold increase to $803.3M versus $192.1M in the same period last year.

The Texas-based company later confirmed at the end of the quarter the start of the charter process for a project serving Finland and the Baltic state of Estonia.

The Texas-based company also signed a definitive agreement to deploy the FSRU “Excelsior” to Germany for five years.

Excelerate’s “Exemplar’ completed another winter season delivering LNG regasification services to Argentina and in August departed the port of Bahia Blanca and sailed to Europe for maintenance and winterization.

Finland project

The FSRU “Exemplar” was first delivered in 2010 and is 291 metres in length and with a beam of 43 metres and capacity of 151,000 cubic metres.

“Finland’s charter hire commenced in October and winterization upgrades for the ‘Exemplar’ are ongoing,” said Excelerate.

“The ‘Exemplar’ is currently undergoing customer-requested winterization upgrades during a technical stop at the Navantia shipyard in Ferrol (northwest Spain),” said Excelerate

Excelerate and Gasgrid Finland previously announced an executed 10-year, time charter party agreement for Excelerate to provide LNG regasification services, which are expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2022.

For the German agreement, the “Excelsior” is expected to provide regasification services at Germany’s planned LNG import terminal being developed at the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven by developer Tree Energy Solutions and the German and French utilities E.ON and Engie.

“Excelerate previously announced that the company and Engie signed a term sheet for the deployment of an FSRU to provide flexible and secure LNG regasification capacity for Germany as it continues to seek alternatives to Russian pipeline gas supply,” said Excelerate.

The US company also recently ordered an FSRU newbuild from Hyundai Heavy Industries of South Korea to be set for hire in the second quarter of 2026.

Earnings overview

The company’s adjusted earnings increased over the prior quarter due to lower idle fuel costs, lower repair and maintenance expenses and higher margins from the Bahia Blanca seasonal charter in Argentina.

Excelerate said this was partially offset by an increase in expenses primarily driven by higher consulting costs to support the company’s transition to a public company structure, along with higher spending related to business development and marketing activities.

“Excelerate delivered another great quarter, demonstrating the strength of our flexible business model against the backdrop of the most significant energy market disruption in decades,” said President and Chief Executive Steven Kobos.

“We are successfully executing our strategy to deploy our flexible LNG infrastructure and pursue downstream opportunities to expand our reach in both new and existing markets,” added Kobos.

“Our portfolio approach to managing our FSRU fleet provides us with a unique ability to deliver the best solutions that scale with our customers’ needs in both developed and emerging markets,” stated the CEO.

The company added that it was increasing its full-year 2022 guidance range.

Adjusted gross earnings are now expected to range between $264M and $274M, up from $249M and $269M.

Liqvis GmbH, the liquefied natural gas fuel subsidiary of German utility Uniper, has opened its second LNG filling station near the city of Kassel on the A7 motorway and another seven are being constructed or planned.

Trucking companies in Germany do not have to pay motorway tolls if they have natural gas fuel and Liqvis said the exemption was proving effective in getting companies to switch from the more pollutant diesel.

The latest station in the state of Hesse in central Germany adds to the first one previously opened in Grünheide near Berlin.

Liqvis, based in the German city of Essen, said the Kassel station on the A7 between the Kassel-Mitte interchange and the Kassel-Süd triangle was built in just about four months and is open 24 hours a day.

Kassel previously had a mobile station to dispense LNG and that is now being moved from Kassel to Hamm in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia to expand the LNG fuel network.

“The Kassel location in the centre of Germany made the site a hotspot for long-haul heavy trucks, as previously demonstrated by the high demand at the mobile station,” said Liqvis.

“The new station will make refueling faster and more convenient for customers,” the company added.

“Two trucks can now be refueled at the same time, and in the future this could even be increased to four,” explained Liqvis.

The Uniper unit’s LNG station network will also spread into other European Union countries, including France with a facility at the Channel port of Calais.

The Calais station is already under construction and among other sites chosen for stations in Germany are Rosengarten near Hamburg and Langenhagen near Hanover.

“Thanks in no small part to the toll exemption in Germany, LNG has established itself as a fuel on the market over the last three years, which can be seen in the large increase in revenue at our filling stations,” said Silvano Calcagno, Managing Director of Liqvis.

“At Liqvis, we want transport companies to be able to plan the use of their vehicles as flexibly as possible,” added Calcagno.

“That's why we're continually working on expanding our network coverage and I am looking forward to being able to open further stations in Germany and Europe over the course of this year,” he stated.

The main advantages of truck companies switching to LNG are emissions well below the Euro VI standard and less noise from the engines.

“The ‘quiet’ LNG engine technology lowers noise levels for deliveries outside normal traffic times,” said Liqvis.

“In addition, by switching to LNG, operators can refuel their vehicles with a larger amount of natural gas, meaning that their fleets can travel longer distances,” it added.

Gassco, the Norwegian pipeline operator and one of the main competitors to liquefied natural gas in Europe, has inaugurated a new pipeline terminal at Emden for deliveries to Germany, which has largely shunned LNG.