The 170,000-cbm Hoegh Gannet, Germany’s third FSRU, has arrived in Brunsbuettel, where it will soon start the commissioning phase as part of the Elbehafen LNG terminal.
According to its AIS data, the 2018-built FSRU arrived at Brunsbuettel’s Elbehafen port on Friday morning local time.
German energy firm RWE, the developer of the government-backed Elbehafen LNG facility near Hamburg, confirmed the FSRU arrival in a statement later on Friday.
The firm said that the vessel would initially operate at an existing berth in the Elbehafen of Brunsbuettel Ports.
From the end of 2023, the FSRU will be moved to a new jetty to the west of the Elbehafen and this jetty will be built and operated by Brunsbuettel Ports.
RWE also said that Reganosa would operate and maintain the land-based infrastructure of the facility while Marine Service supports the project with technical know-how as a development partner for the terminal design.
As previously reported, the FSRU picked up a partial cargo at Reganosa’s Mugardos LNG import terminal in the Ferrol port in Spain prior to heading to Germany.
A spokesman for RWE told LNG Prime on Thursday that following arrival of the unit in Brunsbuettel, “a commissioning and trial operation phase of several weeks begins” and that the company expects to start commercial operation in the second half of February.
RWE said in the new statement on Friday that it would temporarily move the vessel during the commissioning phase.
The trial operations will include connection to the newly built gas pipeline so that first gas volumes can be fed into the German gas network from the beginning of February, it said.
First LNG tanker
Following tests, the FSRU will receive the first LNG delivery from UAE’s Adnoc as part of a deal RWE signed in September last year.
Adnoc agreed under the deal to deliver the LNG shipment from the 6 mtpa Das Island plant off the coast of Abu Dhabi to the Elbehafen LNG terminal.
Together with Uniper and EnBW, RWE is responsible to supply LNG to the FSRU Hoegh Gannet.
According to current plans, the first LNG cargo would arrive at Brunsbuettel at the end of January 2023, RWE said.
Third FSRU-based facility
Hoegh LNG announced a binding 10-year charter deal with Germany for its 170,000-cbm FSRU Hoegh Gannet on Thursday.
The firm signed the deal with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and the vessel would be located at the Elbehafen LNG project in Brunsbuettel, operated by new state-owned firm Deutsche Energy Terminal GmbH.
This is Hoegh’s second 10-year deal with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action after the contract for the FSRU Hoegh Esperanza.
Hoegh Esperanza has already received two cargoes in Wilhelmshaven, the home of Germany’s first FSRU-based terminal.
The Elbhafen LNG terminal will be the third operational FSRU-based terminal in Germany and the second out of five backed by the German government.
Deutsche Regas officially launched its FSRU-based LNG import terminal in Lubmin, Germany’s second such facility and the first private terminal, on Saturday.
TotalEnergies chartered FSRU Neptune, which is 50 percent owned by Hoegh, to Deutsche Regas.
(Article updated to include a statement by RWE.)
