A floating storage and regasification unit for Germany’s planned terminal in Stade is expected to arrive on site next month, while its sister ship has already berthed in what will be a new logistical arrangement for an existing project.
Data provider iGIS/LNG said the 174,000-cbm Energos Force (ex-Transgas Force, built 2021), which is loaded with a US cargo, is set to arrive shortly before Easter. But it will first visit Rotterdam for some additional preparation.
There have been some complications at Hanseatic Energy Hub’s Stade terminal which appears to be delaying its start-up, the data company detailed.
The Stade FSRU will be located at Bremerhaven on the Elbe River in north-west Germany and will operate under the direction of Deutsche Energy Terminal.
The vessel and its sister ship — the Energos Power — are both on 10-year charters that began in early 2023 to the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate Change.
Elsewhere in Germany, the FSRU Energos Power arrived at the port of Mukran in the past few days to begin trial operations to test all onshore and ship systems, terminal operator Deutsche ReGas said.
The Energos Power — one of two FSRUs bought by Energos Infrastructure from Greek shipowner Dynagas — was carrying a shipment of LNG loaded from the Snohvit project in Norway.
Deutsche ReGas supervisory board chairman Stephan Knabe said: “Energos Power will feed natural gas from Mukran into the German gas pipeline this winter.”
The existing FSRU at the port, the smaller 145,130-cbm Neptune (built 2009) is due to leave in the spring, Deutsche ReGas said.
The company added that this will “eliminate the LNG shuttle traffic” between the out-of-port, 140,500-cbm floating storage unit Seapeak Hispania (built 2002) with smaller vessels bringing in cargoes to the existing FSRU.
TotalEnergies and Deutsche ReGas’ private Deutsche Ostsee LNG import project at Lubmin was officially opened on 14 January.
Deutsche ReGas started up the LNG import facility — then Germany’s third to be put into operation — in 2022.
Lubmin is the first and so far the only privately financed FSRU-based terminal in Germany.
