Deutsche ReGas said it has officially started the construction of its FSRU-based LNG terminal in the German port of Lubmin.
The German firm led by Ingo Wagner and Stephan Knabe said in a statement on September 18 that construction on the first private German FSRU-based facility would start on September 20.
“This is an important milestone for our project, on which our international team of experienced LNG professionals has been working at full speed for months,” Knabe said in the statement.
The construction works would be aimed at upgrading the industrial port, which has so far only been used by smaller ships, and creating a jetty, the company said.
Deutsche ReGas confirmed it expects the Lubmin facility or Deutsche Ostsee to start delivering about 4.5 billion cubic meters per year from December 1.
In July, the firm revealed it signed a term sheet with French energy giant TotalEnergies under which the latter would provide an FSRU for the project.
It also recently submitted an application to Germany’s Federal Network Agency for an exemption from regulation.
Lubmin is the exit point for the German-Russian gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2, which are not operating.
Deutsche ReGas previously said it could install two additional FSRUs to add more regasification capacity while its plans also include hydrogen.
Due to shallow waters at the location in Greifswalder Bodden, Deutsche ReGas aims to install a floating storage unit where LNG tankers with a capacity of up to 170,000-cbm would be able to dock.
From there, smaller vessels would transport the fuel to the FSRU, according to the firm.
Germany to have six FSRUs
Germany currently has no regasification facilities but the country is fast-tracking LNG imports to replace Russian pipeline gas and boost energy security.
This unit Deutsche ReGas will charter from TotalEnergies is not connected to the four FSRUs RWE and Uniper chartered on behalf of the German government.
These vessels include the two units RWE chartered from Hoegh LNG, and the Dynagas-owned 174,000-cbm Transgas Force and Transgas Power that will go on charter to Uniper.
In addition, Germany recently chose E.ON, Belgium-based Tree Energy Solutions (TES), and a unit of France’s Engie to deploy an FSRU chartered from US player Excelerate Energy in Wilhelmshaven.
Uniper has already started building Germany’s first FSRU-based LNG facility in Wilhelmshaven and expects to commission it this winter.
Besides these terminals, Germany has also chosen Stade and Lubmin as the next two locations to install the chartered units.