Lithuania’s LNG terminal operator KN has secured a contract from German energy firm Uniper to provide operational services for the FSRU-based LNG import facility under construction in Wilhelmshaven.
Earlier this year, Uniper started building this FSRU-based LNG facility in Wilhelmshaven as part of Germany’s plans to replace Russian gas pipeline supplies and boost energy security.
The aim is to build the terminal in record time and have it operational and supplying natural gas to the country as early as this winter.
This facility and RWE’s Elbhafen LNG terminal in Brunsbuettel would become the country’s first floating LNG import terminals, and would be joined by three other facilities next year.
Germany is financing the charters of in total five FSRUs. These include the two units RWE chartered from Hoegh LNG, the two Dynagas units chartered to Uniper, and Excelerate’s FSRU chartered by Engie, TES, and E.ON.
Besides these government-backed units, Deutsche ReGas is also working on the first private German FSRU-based facility in Lubmin and expects to launch it in December this year.
KN to provide operational services until March 2024
Uniper’s Wilhelmshaven LNG facility will feature Hoegh’s 2018-built 170,000-cbm FSRU Esperanza.
KN’s facility in Lithuania’s Klaipeda also has Hoegh’s 170,000-cbm FSRU Independence and the firm will buy the unit after its lease contract with Hoegh ends in 2024.
The annual design capacity of the Wilhelmshaven terminal is 7.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas, which corresponds to over 8 percent of Germany’s 2021 gas demand.
Uniper selected KN to provide operational services at the Wilhelmshaven LNG facility until preliminary date of March 31, 2024, the latter said in a statement announcing the new contract.
According to KN, the contract consists of the establishment and operation of the gas metering system and the IT infrastructure necessary for commercial operations of the terminal.
Also, the Lithuanian company will assist Uniper in the preparation of the commercial logistics operations, provide assistance regarding the operational rules, including the adaptation of the open access model.
KN will also advise on the preparation of procedures for the reservation of capacity at the terminal and provide other terminal operational services.
The Lithuanian firm did not reveal the price tag of the deal.
KN CEO Darius Silenskis said in the statement that this agreement marks “another important milestone” in the context of the company’s international LNG project development activities.
“The successful implementation of the LNG terminal project in Lithuania, the safe and reliable operation of the LNG terminal in the Brazilian port of Acu, as well as the contribution to several other LNG projects around the world, have allowed us to achieve a high international profile and to establish KN as a professional and reliable operator of LNG terminals and project developer on the LNG world map,” he said.