Dutch gas grid and LNG terminal operator, Gasunie, is expecting to receive two liquefied natural gas cargoes at its new import hub in the Dutch port of Eemshaven this week after it restarted the facility on December 16.
The new terminal with a capacity of about 8 bcm per year started delivering regasified LNG to the Dutch grid in September in record time.
It features two chartered FSRUs and they include Exmar’s 26,000-cbm barge-based FSRU Eemshaven LNG and the 170,000-cbm Energos Igloo, previously known as Golar Igloo. A joint venture of asset manager Apollo and US LNG firm NFE owns Energos Igloo.
FSRUs connected
Gasunie’s unit and the terminal operator, EemsEnergyTerminal, started maintenance work at the facility on November 22 and previously expected it to last until November 29.
The company completed the connection between the two chartered FSRUs on November 29 but the works on laying the heat connection took more time than expected and the facility started supplying regasified LNG again on December 16.
This delay lead to a cancellation of a shipment that was scheduled on December 17.
“It will be replaced by a small carrier on December 22 and a ‘normal’ LNG carrier on December 25,” a Gasunie spokeswoman told LNG Prime late on Wednesday.
The small vessel in question is the 2022-built 18,000-cbm, K. Lotus. Korea Line owns this LNG bunkering and supply vessel chartered by Shell.
Shell also charters the 2016-built 174,000-cbm LNG carrier, GasLog Geneva, that will deliver the Christmas LNG cargo.
The LNG giant booked 4 bcm while Czech utility CEZ took 3 bcm of the Eemshaven terminal’s total capacity. France’s Engie secured the remaining 1 bcm of capacity.
Expansion
Gasunie has been quite busy this year regarding new LNG regasification infrastructure as the Netherlands and other European countries such as Germany look to replace Russian pipeline gas supplies.
The company is now studying to further expand the existing LNG facilities in Eemshaven and in Rotterdam (Gate) on the basis of technical optimizations, it said earlier this month.
Besides the existing facilities, the firm is working on a new FSRU-based facility at the port of Terneuzen.