Germany’s government has secured the delivery of a fifth FSRU in a bid to tackle the country’s gas challenge.
Germany is working with Tree Energy Solutions (TES), E.ON and Engie on the plan.
Engie has signed a deal with US-listed Excelerate Energy for an FSRU to serve as Germany’s fifth planned terminal. The companies are developing this at the port of Wilhelmshaven.
“This term sheet represents an important milestone in our commercial negotiations to support the development of a new FSRU import terminal in Germany,” said Oliver Simpson, commercial vice president of Excelerate. “We look forward to collaborating with ENGIE and its partners E.ON and TES to support Germany as the country seeks to enhance its energy security and achieve its decarbonization goals.”
The Germany Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection chose TES, E.ON and Engie to develop this fifth terminal.
The FSRU should start operating in the 2023-24 winter. It will be able to import around 5 billion cubic metres of gas.
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck welcomed the plan. Importing LNG would make Germany less dependent on imports of Russian pipeline gas, he said.
“And all steps that free us from the uncertainty of Russian imports as quickly as possible are more necessary than ever in these times. At the same time, we are accelerating the import of green hydrogen in parallel, making Wilhelmshaven an important landing point for safe and sustainable energy in Europe.”
LNG to hydrogen
A statement from TES said it was working on Europe’s largest green energy hub at Wilhelmshaven. The company described the proposed hydrogen terminal at the port as “flexible, modular and future proof”.
It aims to begin importing green hydrogen within the first 12 months that the vessel is in operation. TES said the FSRU would provide a “seamless transition” to green imports.
“Germany’s new FSRU will accelerate TES’s hydrogen strategy,” said TES CEO Marco Alvera.
Excelerate has identified European options as of particular interest for future deals in its July trading update. It picked out plans in southern Europe and Finland as plans under way.