Spanish power group Endesa has delivered the first commercial liquefied natural gas cargo to the El Musel LNG terminal in Gijon, according to Enagas.
The 2019-built 180,000-cbm, GasLog Warsaw, owned by Greece’s GasLog, arrived at the facility with the cargo on Friday following the final technical tests required before the plant’s commercial commissioning, Enagas said in a statement.
GasLog Warsaw’s AIS data provided by VesselsValue shows that the vessel previously loaded the shipment at Cheniere’s Corpus Christi plant in the US.
In July, Enagas said that Endesa is the winner of a capacity allocation process for logistics services at the El Musel LNG terminal in Gijon.
Endesa began operations under the contract for the terminal’s logistics services on July 31, Enagas said.
The terminal also received two ships in July as a necessary technical precursor to the commercial commissioning of the facility.
These include the 174,000-cbm, Cool Racer, and Dorado LNG with the same capacity.
The logistics services offered for this infrastructure include LNG unloading, storage, and loading operations.
Under the regulated access regime, the El Musel terminal will only offer minimal regasification service for the proper management of the terminal, as well as the truck loading service, Enagas said.
Europe’s energy security
For Endesa, the allocation of the logistics services offered by this infrastructure is an “important milestone”, Enagas said.
El Musel will offer Endesa flexibility at a time when European terminals are overloaded, it said.
Furthermore, the LNG tanks provide storage capacity and the exclusive use of the terminal opens up new business opportunities, all of which will contribute to strengthening Europe’s energy security, the firm said.
In addition, Endesa will provide the supply necessary for the optimal operation of the terminal, as well as truck loading and injection into the transmission network.
According to Enagas, the facility could contribute up to 8 bcm of LNG capacity per year to Europe’s security of energy supply.
It will allow the berthing of vessels with a capacity of between 50,000 cbm and 266,000 cbm.
Also, the LNG terminal has two tanks each with a capacity of 150,000 cbm and two tanker loading bays with a capacity to load a maximum of 9 GWh/d, and a maximum emission capacity of 800,000 Nm3/h.
Earlier this year, Enagas also entered into a deal to sell a 25 percent stake in the LNG terminal to compatriot Reganosa for 95 million euros ($103.7 million).
Enagas expects to complete this transaction in the second half of this year.