Rotterdam-based storage terminal owner VTTI, co-owned by Vitol, IFM, and Adnoc, is joining forces with FSRU player Hoegh LNG to develop a new FSRU-based facility in the Netherlands.
VTTI announced in December 2022 it plans to develop a new facility that will provide the Netherlands additional storage and import capacity for LNG.
The Netherlands currently imports LNG via Gasunie’s and Vopak’s Gate terminal in Rotterdam and also the Eemshaven LNG hub that features two FSRUs. Including plans for capacity boost, these facilities will have a combined capacity of about 30 bcm.
According to a statement by VTTI issued on Thursday, the company and Hoegh LNG have signed an agreement to jointly explore options to develop and operate Zeeland Energy Terminal, in the Vlissingen port area, southern Netherlands.
The terminal will be based on a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU), which in time, plans to transition from import of LNG to hydrogen, it said.
Moreover, the facility will be connected to one of the largest industrial clusters in the Netherlands and to the Dutch and European gas pipeline network and, sequentially, the hydrogen backbone.
VTTI said the terminal will contribute to the security and affordability of gas supply for the Netherlands and also other parts of Europe by increasing its natural gas capacity with LNG importation.
The facility will have an annual throughput capacity of up to 7.5 billion cubic meters, which corresponds to around 25 percent of the current total average gas consumption in the Netherlands.
Launch in 2027
According to VTTI, the partnership entails a 50-50 percent joint venture for the LNG import facility which includes an adapted FSRU offering, an integrated infrastructure solution, leveraging each of the companies’ strengths.
Hoegh’s fleet comprises ten FSRUs and three LNG carriers.
The company’s entire fleet is either operating under or committed to long-term contracts, except the purchased LNG carrier Hoegh Gandria which could be converted to an FSRU.
VTTI said the project will be developed under a ‘Rijkscoordinatieregeling’, a decision-making process coordinated by the Dutch government for energy projects of national importance.
The public participation phase, part of the first stage in this procedure, is scheduled to begin in the first quarter 2024.
Furthermore, a dialogue with interested market parties is ongoing, and the project team will start an open season during the first half of 2024, to gauge further market interest in its regasification capacity, it said.
VTTI expects the facility to launch operations in the second half of 2027.