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Brunsbüttel FSRU to come online early 2023
Construction of Germany’s Brunsbüttel LNG terminal will commence in September according to an update from the government of the Schleswig-Holstein region
The regional government has published the schedule for the floating liquid gas terminal. Schleswig-Holstein’s Energy Transition Minister Tobias Goldschmidt said the region is gearing up for the arrival of an FSRU.
The 5Bn m3 Höegh LNG FSRU is scheduled to arrive at the turn of the year. However, due to the grid capacities, only about 3.5Bn m3 (about 4% of Germany’s gas requirements) of natural gas per year can then be transported via this pipeline until the construction of a new 55-km pipeline.
Germany is heavily dependent on piped gas from Russia and currently has no LNG terminals. Following the Ukraine war, the German federal government passed the LNG Acceleration Act to shorten approval procedures for LNG terminals which will make it possible to commission the FSRU faster.
As Mr Goldschmidt noted, “The LNG infrastructure in Brunsbüttel will make an important contribution to getting by without Russian gas in the future.” He added, “Neither the project itself nor the shortening of the procedure trigger storms of enthusiasm. But the energy supply situation is what it is: deadly serious.”
The Minister added that the government is planning several construction projects in parallel – from terminals to the simultaneous construction of two gas pipelines. In the short term, the LNG will be fed into the German gas network and in the medium term, the goal is to double the FSRU’s capacity.
There is currently no free berth available for the FSRU in the port of Brunsbüttel. As an interim solution, the project managers will temporarily use the existing hazardous materials feeder. The conversion work is scheduled to begin in early September, and construction of a 3-km natural gas transmission line will start in October 2022.
In the second phase, the government plans to build a new jetty between November 2022 and March 2023 which will free up the hazardous materials feeder for its previous purposes, such as for oil deliveries.
Construction on the 55-km transmission line from Brunsbüttel to Hetlingen/Stade will begin November 2022, and is expected to last until the end of 2023. When complete, the FSRU will be connected to the German long-distance gas network, which will allow the vessel to use its full 5Bn m3 capacity.
An onshore LNG terminal project is running parallel to the current project and the regional government is targeting 2026 for start-up. The onshore terminal will replace the FSRU. This week, TotalEnergies signed a deal to supply another FSRU to Germany.
The LNG Shipping & Terminals Conference Europe will be held 16-17 November 2022. Register your interest and access more information here
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