Lithuania’s KN, the state-owned operator of the country’s first LNG import facility in Klaipeda, is offering 9 TWh per year of long-term regasification capacity at the 170,000-cbm FSRU Independence.
According to a statement by KN, the capacity allocation procedure started on September 15 and includes the period from 2025 to 2032 (inclusive) and from 2033 onwards.
The annual allocated capacity of the Klaipeda LNG terminal is 32-34 TWh. Firms have already reserved 24 TWh of capacity for the period from 2023 to 2032.
KN said it will allocate the capacity from 2025 to 2032 in 3 lots of 3 TWh each.
Moreover, KN intends to offer higher capacities – up to 28 TWh – for the period from 2033 to 2044. KN said it will divide these into 7 lots of 4 TWh each.
“Russian invasion of Ukraine caused an energy crisis, due to which the demand for natural gas increased to unprecedented heights not only in Lithuania, but also in the entire European Union (EU),” Mindaugas Navikas, chief commercial officer of KN said in the statement.
Last year, the gas pipeline between Poland and Lithuania (GIPL) was completed, while the capacity of the gas pipeline between Latvia and Lithuania was also significantly increased.
This enabled natural gas supplies to a larger number of customers from the Klaipeda LNG terminal.
“As a result, we are recording considerable interest in the capacities of our terminal,” Navikas said.
Full capacity in the long term
KN receives inquiries both from market participants located in the region (Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Poland), and from market participants located further away (the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Norway), or from natural gas trading companies.
“Therefore, there is no doubt that the capacity allocation procedure, especially for capacity allocation until 2032, will be competitive,” he said.
“Our goal is to ensure that the LNG terminal operates at full capacity in the long term. The higher is the occupancy of the terminal, the lower are its maintenance costs, because every company using the terminal pays a fee for the regasification service,” Navikas said.
Last year, KN exercised its option to buy the FSRU Independence for $153.5 million, excluding VAT, from Hoegh LNG at the end of its current lease deal in 2024.
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.
KN recently also selected a unit of Norway’s Hoegh LNG to operate and maintain the FSRU for five years.