Gasunie’s new LNG import hub in the Dutch port of Eemshaven has received its first cargo of liquefied natural gas.
The 173,000-cbm Murex LNG carrier arrived on Thursday at EemsEnergyTerminal, which consists of two chartered floating storage and regasification units or FSRUs.
New Fortress Energy’s 170,000-cbm Golar Igloo entered the Eemshaven port, operated by Groningen Seaports, on Sunday afternoon, while Exmar’s 26,000-cbm barge-based FSRU Eemshaven LNG arrived in Eemshaven under tow on Tuesday.
Murex will unload the cargo to Golar Igloo. As previously reported by LNG Prime, the LNG carrier, owned by Seapeak and chartered by Shell, loaded the shipment at Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG plant in Texas.
Gasunie will later on Thursday hold a launching ceremony for the Eemshaven facility, attended by officials from Gasunie, the Czech Prime Minister, and others.
The state-owned firm expects that the new hub would receive up to 18 LNG cargoes by December 31, while regasified LNG from Eemshaven should start flowing through its gas grid in mid-September.
Shell booked 4 bcm while Czech firm ČEZ took 3 bcm of the terminal’s total capacity. France’s Engie secured the remaining 1 bcm of capacity.
EemsEnergyTerminal, the first FSRU-based facility in the Netherlands, is being prepared in record time as the Netherlands and other European countries such as Germany look to slash reliance on Russian pipeline gas and boost energy security.
The Eemshaven hub is the second LNG import facility in the Netherlands after the Gate terminal in Rotterdam, which is owned by Gasunie and Vopak.
With an expansion at the Gate terminal and the Eemshaven project, Dutch capacity will double from current 12 bcm to 24 bcm.
