French energy giant TotalEnergies has booked regasification capacity at the FSRU-based LNG import terminal in Lubmin, operated by Deutsche ReGas.
TotalEnergies charters the 2009-built 145,000-cbm, FSRU Neptune, which serves the facility, to Deutsche ReGas.
In December, TotalEnergies delivered the FSRU with an annual regasification capacity of 5 billion cubic meters of gas, enough to cover about 5 percent of German demand.
Hoegh LNG Partners, now 100 percent owned by Hoegh LNG, has a 50 percent stake in this unit, MOL owns 48.5 percent, and Tokyo LNG Tanker has 1.5 percent.
Besides the charter, TotalEnergies also booked capacity at the unit, according to a statement released on Friday.
Following Deutsche Regas’s open season procedure, in October 2022, TotalEnergies contracted regasification capacity of 2.6 billion cubic meters of gas per year and began to deliver LNG from its global integrated portfolio to the Lubmin terminal, the French firm said.
“Europe is facing a historic gas supply crisis caused by the sharp drop in flows from Russia. Since the beginning of this crisis, TotalEnergies has mobilized its LNG portfolio, which is broad and flexible, to send available LNG to Europe and to use its 18 Mt/y regasification capacity,” Stéphane Michel, president gas, renewables and power at TotalEnergies, said in the statement.
“Thanks to the start-up of the Lubmin terminal, TotalEnergies will be able to add to this effort and increase its imports to Europe to over 20 Mt/y, or about 15 percent of the continent’s regasification capacity,” he said.
MET also booked capacity
Deutsche ReGas said in a separate statement on Friday that Switzerland-based trading firm MET Group had also booked capacity at the FSRU-based facility.
The private LNG firm led by Ingo Wagner and Stephan Knabe said that 80 percent of the annual capacity of 4.6 bcm offered under the first phase of the project had been awarded under long-term contracts.
MET booked 1 bcm per year and TotalEnergies took 2.6 bcm per year of the regasification capacity for a total of 3.6 bcm.
The rest of the capacity of up to a maximum of 5.2 bcm would be awarded to bidders on a short-term basis, Deutsche ReGas said.
Launch on Saturday
The FSRU-based terminal in Lubmin, Germany’s second such facility, has already started supplying natural gas to the grid.
Deutsche ReGas will officially launch the facility on January 14.
The start of gas supplies to the grid followed the arrival of the first LNG shipment in Lubmin for commissioning purposes.
The small LNG/ethylene carrier, Coral Furcata, operated by Dutch firm Anthony Veder, delivered the shipment to the 2009-built 145,000-cbm, FSRU Neptune, on December 30.
Coral Furcata can carry about 10,000 cbm of LNG and previously took the cargo from the 137,814-cbm LNG carrier Seapeak Hispania, which serves as a floating storage unit for the project.
Sepeak Hispania arrived some three weeks ago offshore the island of Ruegen carrying a cargo from Egypt’s Idku plant.
In the future, this vessel will take liquefied natural gas from LNG carriers and store it while smaller carriers such as Coral Furcata and Coral Favia will take take the fuel from the FSU and deliver it to the FSRU in Lubmin due to draft restrictions in the area.
(Article updated with a statement by Deutsche ReGas.)