FRSU availability tightens as market awaits new FIDs
Near-term availability of floating LNG terminals is tightening fast, with Fernley expecting a fresh wave of vessel conversions as floating storage and regas units (FSRUs) have achieved their highest-ever share of global LNG imports.
Svanehøj lands LNG carrier-to-FSRU gauging order
Denmark-based Svanehøj has signed a contract with Drydocks World Dubai to supply LTD gauging systems for the conversion of the LNG carrier LNG Bayelsa into the floating storage unit (FSU) Cap Lopez. Drydocks World Dubai sees strong demand for such conversions amid rising global interest in floating LNG units for flexible gas supply in off-grid regions.
Chevron steps up offtake from Lake Charles LNG by 1 mtpa
Chevron has agreed to offtake an additional 1 mtpa from Energy Transfer's Lake Charles LNG export terminal. The 20-year agreement increases Chevron’s contracted volumes to 3 mtpa, as the US oil major seeks to expand its global gas business.
Germany’s hydrogen push stalls amid price uncertainty
Plans for Germany’s green hydrogen economy face serious delays due to uncertain future pricing and lagging infrastructure build-out, e.g. conversion of LNG import terminals and gas-fuelled power plants. Investment is slowly forthcoming: of the government’s targeted 10 GW new electrolyser capacity by 2030, only 1.6 GW has been instated so far.
“The hydrogen market is not scaling at the speed needed,” said Kerstin Andreae, chair of the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) when presenting a new report co-authored by the consultancy EY.
“Investors and developers need clear rules, support for infrastructure, and reliable pricing signals to move forward,” she stressed. In fact, green hydrogen, produced by electrolysis using renewable electricity, made up just 0.5% of total hydrogen output in Germany in 2023 – while the vast majority is still made from fossil fuels, primarily natural gas.
The ‘Energy Transition Progress Monitor 2025’ warns that slow progress on key hydrogen infrastructure and weak investment conditions are stalling the ramp-up of green hydrogen. The report, published on Monday, cites a “significant investment hurdle” caused by regulatory uncertainty, infrastructure gaps, and market risks.
Industrial demand declines
Fossil-based generation of both hydrogen and electricity is becoming a new phenomenon amid weakening industrial demand, particularly in key sectors such as refining, ammonia, methanol, and chlorine production. Despite these setbacks Germany is on track to meet its 2030 climate targets, though analysts stressed shortfalls remain in the transport and heating sectors.
The incoming federal government faces “tremendous pressure” to deliver results, BDEW underlined. Key policy priorities include speeding up permitting for renewable projects, aligning grid expansion with energy demand, and designing a new electricity market framework that rewards flexibility and low-carbon solutions.
Industry groups, meanwhile, want the government to reinvigorate hydrogen efforts. BDEW and more than a dozen other trade associations called for a “restart” in bilateral energy ties aimed at forming a European hydrogen alliance. The groups called for an overhaul of EU rules on green and low-carbon hydrogen, the rapid buildout of cross-border hydrogen infrastructure, and harmonized certification standards across the bloc.
A close partnership with France, they argued, could “inject decisive momentum” into Europe’s hydrogen strategy. Signatories to the joint statement included BDEW, the chemical industry association VCI, the automotive group VDA, the local utility association VKU, and the European hydrogen lobby Hydrogen Europe.
Maiden LNG cargo arrives at KARMOL Powership in Senegal
A maiden LNG cargo has arrived at the 125,000 cubic meter KARMOL LNGT Powership Africa, moored off the Senegalese capital Dakar since June 2021. Arrival of the first cargo – onboard a TotalEnergies-chartered tanker – helps the African nation to convert several power stations from oil to natural gas.
KARMOL, a joint venture between Karpowership and Mitsui OSK Lines, is for long active in Senegal: the Turkish company is already operating a 235 MW powership since August 2019, which covers around 15% of the country’s electricity needs.
Technically speaking, KARMOL’s technique of regasifying LNG onboard a specially designed FSRU for direct use in a Karpowership helps accelerate the roll-out of LNG-to-Power projects in countries with no domestic gas resources.
Going forward, the Turkish-Japanese joint venture wants to convert its entire fleet of Powerships to LNG. To that end, the JV already has another FSRU under construction which will be released shortly and is destined to be deployed offshore Mozambique.
Gokhan Kocak, KARMOL board member, said the company has a “bold ambition” to offer LNG to Power across the world and especially within Africa. “The usage of FSRUs mean we can unlock the benefits of clean and affordable electricity for millions of people, even where countries have no domestic gas production or infrastructure,” he explained.
Taiwan’s CPC to ramp up LNG imports via new terminal
CPC Corp, Taiwan’s state-owned energy company, is preparing to ramp up LNG procurement through a new regas terminal in the Guantang Industrial Area. By importing more natural gas, utilities comply with the government’s policy to exit nuclear power by the end of this year.
The Guantang terminal, situated in the north of the island, will give CPC an additional option for importing LNG apart from its Taichung LNG terminal which is also being expanded.
The Taiwanese government wants to replace nuclear power with natural gas and renewables. To that end, the ratio of electricity generated from natural gas is meant to rise to 50%, the ministry of economic affairs said, specifying the mid-2025 as the deadline for the completion of the country’s nuclear exit.
Taipower seeks to adhere to the government’s Nuclear Free Homeland Policy and state-owned CPC Corp consequentially increased LNG imports since early summer last year, and recently got approval to build a new regas terminal at Kaohsiung. Unit 1 of Taipower’s last fully functional nuclear power plant was shuttered on July 27 2024, and the utility currently prepares to decommission Unit 2 in late August or September 2025. This will complete Taiwan’s nuclear exit.
Repowering Talin plant to replace lost nuclear capacity
By that time, however, the country will need to import substantially more LNG as gas-fuelled power station will need to be dispatched for mid-merit or even partly as a baseload power source. Repowering the Talin coal-fired power units to cleaner-burning natural gas is under consideration. Not only would this boost demand for LNG, combusting gas instead of thermal coal would also produce around 95,000 tonnes less sulphur oxide, 50,000 tonnes less nitrogen oxide, and 6.26 million tonnes less carbon dioxide annually.
CPC confirmed it will supply regasified LNG to the repowered Talin power plant at Kaohsiung Port. But the company was quick to add it would also supply gas to power industries, homes, other end-users, and source gas for storage to meet seasonal demand swings.
Plans to increase Taiwan's natural gas reserves from the current 7-day storage level to 14, have already been announced by the country’s Ministry of Economics in October last year. Greater gas storage requirements further add to rising demand for imported LNG. All these factors make the state gas buyer CPC Corp keep a vigilant eye on offerings from long-term LNG deliveries as well as on the spot market.
Germany urged to clarify timeframe for fossil gas exit, role of LNG
Though Germany must phase out fossil gas by 2045 to become climate neutral, there is no clear roadmap for exiting natural gas in the power sector and the future role of LNG, the International Energy Agency (IEA) criticises. The German ‘LNG Acceleration Act,’ for once, stipulates an end of LNG imports by 2043 when terminals should be converted to hydrogen.
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To meet that timeline, substantial investment in Germany’s traditional gas infrastructure would be required, analysts pointed out.
For repurposing LNG regas terminals to accommodate hydrogen, the key question is temperature. Methane liquefies at −160°C and hydrogen −253°C. The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) recommends terminal operators to carry out a risk assessment of LNG in order to analyse the impact on the process conditions, properties of mixtures and consequences.
As for storage, Germany has the largest gas storage capacity in the EU with around 40 gas storage facilities holding more than 24 bcm. Up to 1% hydrogen per volume can be blended into an average gas storage facility – while a pipeline that currently carries mainly natural gas can transport about three times as many cubic meters of hydrogen, an ENTSOG-G study finds.
Key gas pipelines in Germany include Nord Stream 1, which used to transport Russian gas through the Baltic Sea; the Yamal-Europe Pipeline, now primarily used to transport natural gas from Germany to Poland; the Trans Europa Naturgas Pipeline, connecting the German and Dutch gas grids; and the Europipe I and II pipelines, which import natural gas from Norway’s North Sea fields into Germany.
Clear timeframe needed for gas-to-H2 conversions
Looking at the power sector, there is currently no roadmap for exiting natural gas in the power sector. Unlike coal, no timeframe has been set out, though the target of 100% fossil-free generation by 2035 indicated the need for speedy gas-to-hydrogen conversions – or utilities face the risk of plant closures.
Uncertainty about tenders for hydrogen-ready power stations or a future capacity market is has made Germany’s largest utilities to withhold investment in new power stations, which, in turn, risks to push up wholesale power prices.
The IEA hence urges the incoming coalition government to clarify the timing of a future gas exit. Timeframes for mandated hydrogen conversions would provide industry with the certainty needed to invest in the required import infrastructure (for both natural gas and hydrogen) and industrial clusters.
Electrification in focus first, hydrogen and CCUS second
The industry in Germany is struggling to stay competitive in the face of rising fuel costs and high electricity prices. To mitigate the risk of deindustrialisation, IEA analysts recommend policymakers in Berlin should concentrate efforts on promoting energy efficiency and electrification” in the short run. The rising adoption of hydrogen and post-combustion carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) are seen as e viable pathways in the longer term.
For now, Germany’s dependency on natural gas continues “without a clear end in sight,” analysts criticise the government’s failure to set out clear policies on how to enact the clean energy transition. The outgoing government’s Power Plant Strategy attempted to tender 12.5 GW of new natural gas-fired power plant capacity that could later run on hydrogen.
“In this way, the construction of new hydrogen-ready gas-fired capacity could avoid a fossil fuel lock-in that is not at odds with the electricity generation target, as long as the fuel switch takes place on time,” analysts acknowledged but called for more clarity around the viability of hydrogen-ready gas plants.
Gas peaking plants are believed to keep playing a vital role in grid balancing beyond 2035. But other flexibility options, notably industrial demand response, storage and interconnections, should be encouraged as these “may displace the need for additional generation capacity,” analysts argue. The IEA hence urges the German government to “move ahead with the future electricity market design proposals, including a capacity mechanism.”
Jamaica’s JPS receives first LNG cargo from Miami
New Fortress Energy has delivered the first LNG shipment to JPS’s converted 120 MW Bogue power plant in Montego Bay. The ‘Golar Arctic’ carrier delivered the cargo from the small-scale Hialeah facility near Miami to the port of Kingston.
Sri Lanka wants coal power projects to be converted to LNG
China Machinery Engineering Corp (CMEC) is evaluating a 500 MW LNG-fuelled power project in Hambantota, southern Sri Lanka, which is meant to expanded to 1,000 MW at a later stage. President Maithripala Sirisena pushes for another 500 MW LNG-to-power plant just north of Colombo as he seeks to scrap coal-fired projects, or have them converted to natural gas.
Malaysia to seek LNG carrier overhaul work
