LNG

German state-controlled utility Uniper has agreed to offtake 2 mtpa of destination-flexible LNG from Canada’s proposed Ksi Lisims terminal in British Columbia. First deliveries are expected from 2032.

Bio-LNG produced from biomethane and liquefied at the Gate terminal in Rotterdam will be supplied by Uniper to Q1 Energy as a lower-emissions fuel for Germany’s heavy-duty transport sector. Uniper will act as owner, importer and distributor of the bio-LNG, managing the full supply chain and claiming the associated greenhouse gas quota credits, while Q1 Energy will handle delivery to service stations based on demand. The bio-LNG is transported in ISO tank containers from Rotterdam to a central storage site in Germany, from where Q1 distributes it to filling stations. In the production process, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide are removed to generate gas equivalent in quality to natural gas. The resulting biomethane can be fed into the gas grid for delivery to any offtake point or used within existing LNG infrastructure. 

German utility Uniper has signed a preliminary LNG offtake agreement for 2 mtpa from Canada’s proposed Ksi Lisims project, as developers target an FID on the 12 mtpa floating liquefaction facility by the end of this year.

The Ksi Lisims LNG project in British Columbia is in advanced discussions with additional offtakers as developers target a final investment decision (FID) on the 12 mtpa floating liquefaction facility on Nisga’a Nation land by the end of this year.

Uniper has agreed to supply up to 0.5 mtpa of LNG to India’s Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) under a 10-year sales and purchase agreement (SPA), starting January 2028. Cargoes will be shipped to LNG terminals on India's west coast, including Dahej and Mundra.

Uniper’s chief commercial officer Carsten Poppinga has brushed off concerns about Germany’s overreliance on US LNG imports. “We are not dealing with an administration; we are dealing with companies operating in a certain system, and I have confidence in that system,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of the LNG2026 conference in Doha.

Michael Lewis, CEO of Germany’s largest gas importer Uniper, welcomes plans by U.S. President Trump to expand oil & gas production as well as LNG exports. He urged German industry to use more ‘blue hydrogen,’ made via steam methane reforming, into their energy transitions plans, rather than focussing solely on ‘green hydrogen,' derived from renewable energy.

LNG is a controversial topic in Germany: Green paint was thrown at the back entrance of Berlin’s luxury Hotel Adlon at the opening day of the Global LNG Summit while Stefan Wenzel, state secretary to Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck spoke just prior to a panel with top executives from Cheniere Energy, ADNOC Gas, Shell and bp.

German energy company Uniper has postponed its target to invest €8 billion in the green energy transformation by 2030, citing a lack of demand for green hydrogen, CEO Michael Lewis told business daily FAZ. “As things stand, there are hardly any major customers who buy green hydrogen,” he said, noting Uniper has to “step on the brakes a little.”

Uniper now wants to reach its targeted investment volume “by the early 2030s” and focus on project “that make the greatest contribution from a strategic and financial perspective.” The Germain utility reiterated its aim to exit coal by 2029, though reaching its target of 80% renewables would become “very difficult,” Lewis conceded.

The British boss of the energy group Uniper urged the German government to introduce a lasting system of incentive for a certain volume of green hydrogen – alike the renewable support system. “There is a large gap between the price of natural gas and that of blue or even green hydrogen,” Lewis said, suggesting; “The state would have to agree to close this gap.”

The German coalition government aspires for hydrogen, especially the one produced via electrolysis from wind and solar power, to play a vital role in decarbonising the steel-making sector or the chemical industry as well as the transport sector. But hurdles for implementing and scaling up the technology are manifold, both from a technological and cost perspective.

The cost for storage and distribution may well make green hydrogen a “prohibitively expensive abatement strategy across many major sectors,” researchers from Harvard University warned. Listening to such warnings, Uniper revised its hydrogen strategy and other energy companies eye similar steps to slow down their exposure to a still expensive new fuel type.

Fortum, the Finnish energy and power company with European Union-wide operations and that was forced to give up the German natural gas and energy supplier Uniper which had relied on Russian pipeline supplies from Gazprom, reported another substantial drop in profits.