Lithuania’s KN, the state-owned operator of the country’s first LNG import facility in Klaipeda, said that seven firms would import liquefied natural gas via the 170,000-cbm FSRU Independence next year.
KN just completed the annual LNG terminal capacities allocation procedure.
According to the firm, five customers have secured the LNG terminal’s regasification capacity of 9 TWh for the gas year 2023.
Summarizing the results of the long-term and annual procedures, in the 2023 gas year (from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023), in total seven customers would use the Klaipeda LNG terminal services, it said.
In total, KN allocated a total of 33 TWh of regasification capacity or more than 3.3 bcm for 2023 and the firm also expects to award up to 6 TWh of spot market capacity.
KN allocated a total of 19 TWh of the terminal’s regasification capacity to Lithuanian users, and the rest to customers from Latvia, Estonia, Poland, and Norway.
Poland’s PGNiG and Latvia’s Latvenergo have previously each secured 6 TWh of regasification capacity for a period of ten years at the FSRU-based facility.
“The new LNG terminal capacities allocation model systematically assesses the natural gas needs of both the region and Lithuania. We are pleased with the growing cooperation with existing and new customers, each of whom is important for the smooth functioning of the gas market in the region,” Mindaugas Navikas, COO of KN said in the statement.
“We believe that a balanced capacity allocation model will ensure not only a stable gas supply to Lithuanian consumers, but also the most competitive natural gas prices in our region,” Navikas said.
27 LNG shipments
From the beginning of this year until October 10, KN received 27 large LNG carriers at the LNG terminal.
This compares to 13 LNG carriers in the same period last year, while KN also expects nine more LNG shipments by the end of this year.
During this period until October 10, the FSRU received about 3.6 million cbm of LNG, with the majority of the volumes, or 72 percent coming from the US.
In 2023, the LNG terminal would receive 39 LNG carriers bringing in around 5.3 million cbm of LNG, according to KN.
KN recently exercised its option to buy Hoegh LNG’s FSRU Independence at the end of its current lease deal in 2024.
It will buy the unit for $153.5 million, excluding VAT.
The FSRU has a regas capacity of 3.75 bcm but there are plans to boost the capacity up to 6.25 bcm due to very high demand as European and the Baltic countries look to reduce reliance on Russian gas and boost energy security.