LNG

WINGAS GmbH, a former subsidiary in Germany of Russia’s Gazprom, has now been rebranded as a part of the SEFE Energy group, which is a business active in LNG import terminals, trading and portfolio management, transportation and storage of energy and is fully owned by the Federal Government of Germany.

The SEFE name comes Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE) GmbH, previously called Gazprom Germania and which came under German control and had its name changed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequent sanctions and the shutting off of the Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany.

The SEFE company also controls Germany’s largest gas storage facility and has capacity through the utility Uniper at the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven and at Brunsbüttel on the Elbe River.

SEFE also has a stake in Germany’s proposed fifth LNG import terminal at the port of Stade, also located on the Elbe between Hamburg and Cuxhaven.

The German Government acquired all the shares in SEFE in November 2022 and thus became the sole owner of the group of Gazprom companies in Germany.

LNG supply deals

US LNG exporter Venture Global LNG and SEFE have signed a long-term Sales and Purchase Agreement.

Under the agreement, SEFE’s subsidiary, WINGAS GmbH, will purchase 2.25 million tonnes per annum of LNG from Venture Global’s CP2 project to be located next to the existing Calcasieu Pass plant.

SEFE has additionally signed an accord to receive future volumes from Oman.

“This rebranding marks a significant milestone for SEFE, as it brings all of the group’s sales businesses together under one identity across Europe,” said SEFE.

Over the past 30 years, WINGAS has established itself as one of the leading natural gas suppliers in Europe.

Based in the German city of Kassel and with a strong presence across Germany, the company supplies energy-intensive customers across Europe, including municipal utilities, regional gas suppliers, industrial companies and power plants.

In addition to WINGAS’s existing sales business, SEFE Energy also provides gas, electricity, and low carbon energy products to customers in the UK, France, and the Netherlands.

As an integrated sales organisation, SEFE Energy now supplies over 50,000 customers in seven European countries, with a sales volume of around 200 terawatt hours of gas and electricity.

“By leveraging the synergies of our sales teams across Europe, our customers benefit from a more comprehensive offering of energy products and services, helping them achieve their strategic energy goals,” said Matthias Peter, Managing Director of SEFE Energy.

Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), the association representing the interests of European Union gas infrastructure operators in gas transmission, storage and liquefied natural gas, said the flow of LNG to European terminals hit its lowest since December 2021.

The GIE, which is based in Brussels and represents 70 member companies from 26 countries, provided the information from its gas grid data.

LNG supplies from the main terminals in the EU in nations such as Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Germany plunged in May 2024.

The decline in regasified LNG flowing into gas grids dropped by a quarter to around 6.75 million tonnes.

Regasified LNG flows were also down by 13 percent compard with April 2024.

Total LNG supplies from terminals to Europe’s gas pipeline system was also lower in the January to May period 2024.

More FSRUs 

The decreased regasified LNG volumes were logged even as the EU had more terminals in operation as floating facilities came on line in Italy and Germany.

The total for the year to date though May fell by 10 percent compared with the first five months of last year to reached around 37.5MT.

Another body in the EU, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG), said that by the end of May the share of LNG was still the largest among sources of gas supply to Europe in 2024, standing at 32 percent.

Thus compared the 28 percent of gas provided from the Norwegian Continental Shelf and another 18 percent that came from gas storage facilities.

Other sources of gas received in Europe included 10 percent recived by pipleines from Algeria.

The Algerian volumes were delivered directly to Spain or via Tunisia to Italy by way of Sicily.

The share of gas supplies from Russia and volumes via Ukraine came to 9.5 percent.

Another 2.5 percent of European gas volumes originated from the UK North Sea.

The US remained the largest supplier of LNG to import terminals in EU and the UK followed by Qatar.

The German Association of Transmission System Operators (FNB Gas) said the timetable has been set up for having a shared natural gas pipeline system with hydrogen in Germany's huge pipeline network.

The TSOs in Germany and regulated operators of gas and hydrogen transport networks are obliged by law to set up and operate the network in an equal and non-discriminatory manner.

“In order to fulfil this shared responsibility, the network operators have commissioned FNB Gas as a service provider to fulfil changeover legal tasks,” the FNB said.

The scenario framework for the first integrated gas and hydrogen network development plan is to be handed over to Germany’s Federal Network Agency on June 30, 2024.

The newly established coordination office for the integrated network development planning for gas and hydrogen (KO.NEP) has now officially begun work.

The task of the KO.NEP is to coordinate the future development of the gas and hydrogen system and to submit them to the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) every two years.

Central contact

“It acts as the central contact for authorities and market participants on network development planning issues in the areas of gas and hydrogen and is also responsible for the creation and operation of the legally required databases for the gas and hydrogen network,” the statement added.

FNB Gas Managing Director Barbara Fischer said the body had already gained valuable experience in coordinating gas network development planning.

“We have been supporting the development of the hydrogen core network with great commitment for over a year,” explained Fischer.

“We will bring this knowledge about the processes and content of network planning in both areas into the new coordination office,” she added.

“We have put together a competent team to carry out the coordination office’s tasks,” Fischer stated.

FNB Gas has also previously outlined the future role of LNG import facilities at the coastal locations of the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven, at Brunsbüttel on the Elbe and at the Baltic ports of Lubmin and Mukran.

Members

FNB Gas, which comes from the German words Fernleitungsnetzbetreiber, groups a dozen companies overseeing 40,000 kilometres (25,000 miles) of natural gas pipeline flows and other infrastructure.

Members of FNB Gas are the following TSOs: bayernets GmbH, Ferngas Netzgesellschaft GmbH, Fluxys TENP GmbH, Gascade Gastransport GmbH, Gastransport Nord GmbH, Gasunie Deutschland Transport Services GmbH, GRTgaz Deutschland GmbH, Nowega GmbH, ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH, Open Grid Europe GmbH, Terranets BW GmbH and Thyssengas GmbH.

The German Parliament has voted to allow the development before the winter of a liquefied natural gas import facility in the port of Mukran on the island of Rügen and involving the “FSRU Transgas Power” vessel.

“The Bundestag and Bundesrat both voted on July 7 to allow the construction of an LNG terminal in the port of Mukran on the island of Rügen. Both voted for an amendment to the LNG Acceleration Act,” said a statement.

“The terminal in the port of Mukran should be available for this winter in about six months’ time,” added the Government statement.

Analysts note that the LNG import issue has become a key policy for Chancellor Olaf Stolz’s coalition Government and has caused a partial split with the Greens within the coalition.

Time limitation

The SPD in the Baltic Coast area of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the “FSRU Transgas Power” is to be deployed, are calling for a limitation on the duration of the FLNG project in Mukran.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's state Environment Minister Till Backhaus, a member of the SPD, said that the applications for the planned LNG terminal have still to be thoroughly examined and were far from complete.

According to Backhaus, the responsible authorities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will take a very close look at the applications and may seek amendments.

“From my point of view, the last word has not yet been spoken on the length of the project. We will not accept operating the LNG terminal for the current time span of 20 years,” stated Backhaus.

The Mukran terminal will be part of the operations of Deutsche ReGas GmbH, which has other vessels at the nearby Baltic port of Lubmin and signed an agreement in June 2023 with the Federal Government on deploying the “FSRU Transgas Power”.

Conditions

“The company will be the sub-charterer of the regasification ship to be used together with the ‘Neptune’ in Phase II of the LNG terminal ‘Deutsche Ostsee’ in the port of Mukran,” stated Deutsche ReGas.

It added that as agreed, Deutsche ReGas will assume the rights and obligations of the head charterer in the contract between the Federal Government and Greek shipowner Dynagas.

The Maltese-flagged vessel has 174,000 cubic metres of capacity. It was delivered to Dynagas in 2021 and has a regasification capacity of up to 7.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas per annum.

The Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency) allowed Deutsche ReGas, a private company, to set up LNG import facilities on the basis that a minimum amount of gas was imported.

Deutsche ReGas said that when the Mukran Port operation starts the total injection capacity of the Baltic LNG operations will total 13.5 Bcm per annum, which would be in accordance with the Bundesnetzagentur requirements.