LNG

Gasunie, the Dutch utility and LNG import terminal shareholder in the Netherlands and Germany, said it was working on options to increase LNG with further expansion of the existing capacity off the North Sea port at Eemshaven and at the Gate facility in Rotterdam.

Gasunie admitted that a recently announced feasibility study had shown that a new floating LNG terminal in the port of Terneuzen in the Dutch Zeelandic region was not feasible in the short term.

“In this study, Gasunie is working closely with Vopak,” said the utility in reference to the Dutch storage company and its partner in the Rotterdam terminal.

“The aim of realising temporary LNG import capacity in Terneuzen in the short term and for a limited period proved to be technically and commercially unfeasible,” explained Gasunie.

“It is therefore unwise to embark on the construction of a temporary additional terminal,” it added.

“Gasunie thanks its project partners and stakeholders in Zeeland for the good cooperation in the study phase,” stated Groningen-based Gasunie.

Brunsbüttel stake

Gasunie is additionally a shareholder in the proposed German onshore LNG import terminal at Brunsbüttel on the Elbe River.

Its partners in Brunsbüttel are the German utility RWE and the German federal finance agency, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW).

Gasunie said that the exploration of a new floating LNG terminal in the Netherlands is part of a broader package of proposed measures to increase LNG import capacity.

“This is necessary to cope with the loss of Russian natural gas and reduce scarcity of gas in the European market,” said the company.

Gasunie said it would continue to explore new opportunities for import capacity.

“For example, work is now continuing on initiatives to further expand the existing capacity of the LNG terminals in the Netherlands at Maasvlakte (Gate terminal) and in Eemshaven,” said the company.

“At the Gate terminal, this involves a possible fourth tank with a capacity of 4 billion cubic metres of natural gas and at Eemshaven, a technical optimisation of the existing plant is being investigated,” it added.

“The ambition of EemsEnergy Terminal is to be able to handle 9 billion cubic metres of natural gas before the end of this year and then to grow to 10 Bcm,” stated Gasunie.

US major ConocoPhillips and QatarEnergy will combine to provide 2 million tonnes per annum of LNG to Germany’s new onshore import terminal under development at Brunsbüttel on the Elbe River.

The state government in the German state of Lower Saxony has decided to co-finance an LNG import project called the Hanseatic Energy Hub GmbH and located in the port of Stade on the Elbe River as confusion surrounded the exact number of ventures moving forward in Germany and their start-up dates.

Fortum, the Finnish energy and power company with European Union-wide operations and with plans to give Finland its first floating LNG import terminal, is the majority shareholder in the troubled German utility Uniper but has refused to put any more cash into the Duesseldorf-based company.

German LNG Terminal GmbH, the developer of the Brunsbüttel import terminal on the Elbe River south of Hamburg, welcomed the planning status accorded by the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck for the development of energy import infrastructure across northern Germany.

Royal Vopak, the Netherlands-based global storage company with four stakes in liquefied natural gas terminals and a new LNG import project for Hong Kong, said the German Federal Government would be replacing Vopak as a shareholder in the proposed German LNG terminal at Brunsbüttel on the Elbe River.