German LNG Terminal, the developer of the Brunsbuettel import project, is continuing to work towards a final investment decision despite difficulties caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The joint venture, owned by Dutch Gasunie and Germany’s Oiltanking, is looking to build a regasification facility with a capacity of up to 8 bcm per year with two 165,000-cbm storage tanks.
Dutch tank firm Vopak was an active shareholder in the JV as well but the firm decided to become a passive shareholder last year.
“The financial participation will thus remain, while the active personnel participation will not be continued,” a spokeswoman told LNG Prime in emailed comments on Tuesday.
German LNG Terminal said in September last year that its managing director, Rolf Brouwer, had returned to Vopak.
Michael Kleemiß and Philipp Kroepels are now at the head of the firm.
Working on approvals
The JV said last year it was in talks to sign binding capacity deals.
Germany’s RWE previously expressed interest to take a large part of the terminal’s capacity as well as to import hydrogen from Australia to Brunsbuettel.
Also, German LNG Terminal signed two agreements for long-term capacity back in 2019 with Switzerland’s Axpo and an unidentified “global LNG player.”
In parallel with capacity talks, the JV is also working on securing construction permits for the Brunsbuttel site located in the greater industrial and economic zone of Hamburg.
German LNG Terminal submitted its application for planning approval to the Transport Planning Authority in Kiel in Summer 2021.
This mainly concerns the port infrastructure and the water-side facilities, according to the spokeswoman.
“The next step in this process will be the participation of the public and public interest groups,” she said.
“Still convinced of the necessity of the project”
The spokeswoman did not provide a timeline for the final investment decision on the LNG import development.
“In principle, we are still convinced of the necessity of the project,” the spokeswoman said.
“However, it is a very complex, cost-intensive, and long-term investment. In times of the Corona pandemic, it is more difficult than ever to make reliable statements about the exact timing of the project,” she said.
In 2020, German LNG Terminal had selected a Spanish-German partnership as an exclusive candidate for the final phase of its EPC tender procedure.
The partnership consists of Spain’s Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios, Sener, and Germany’s TGE Gas Engineering.
The contract scope includes a jetty with two berths, with both unloading and loading capabilities, for LNG carriers ranging from 1,000 up to 265,000 cbm.