First regasified LNG sent into German gas grid from Lubmin FSRU: operator

The new floating LNG facility at Lubmin in northeastern Germany fed its first gas into the country's gas network on Jan. 9, operator Deutsche ReGas said Jan. 10.

The privately owned project is the second in Germany to begin sending out gas into the grid after the Uniper-operated FSRU at Wilhelmshaven started send-outs in December.

"The first small quantities were fed into the gas grid yesterday [Jan. 9] as part of the permitted test operation before the official opening on Jan. 14," Deutsche ReGas said in emailed comments.

The Neptune FSRU arrived at Lubmin on Dec. 16 followed by the dedicated floating LNG storage vessel, the Seaspeak Hispania, which is designed to act as a drop-off point for LNG.

Three smaller LNG tankers will carry the LNG from the Hispania to the Neptune FSRU for regasification.

The 5.2 Bcm/year facility at Lubmin is one of six to be deployed in northern Germany, with the other five at Wilhelmshaven (two), Brunsbuttel, Stade, and a second at Lubmin backed by the German government.

After the startup of Wilhelmshaven and Lubmin, the next FSRU at Brunsbuttel is expected to begin operations soon. The other three are expected to be ready to start up by the end of 2023.

Russian gas

German efforts to develop a suite of LNG import terminals intensified after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February and subsequent curtailments of Russian gas supplies to Germany.

Gas supply security has been one of Germany's top political priorities, with the government rushing to fill storage stocks as well as secure LNG import infrastructure over the summer despite record high gas prices.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the benchmark Dutch TTF month-ahead price at an all-time high of Eur319.98/MWh on Aug. 26.

Prices have weakened since on the back of healthy storage and demand curtailments but remain relatively high, with Platts assessing the TTF month-ahead price on Jan. 9 at Eur74.75/MWh.

In its first phase, the Deutsche ReGas project will see the FSRU located within the port of Lubmin along with the Hispania floating storage unit situated in the Baltic Sea where LNG tankers will offload their cargoes.

In late October, Deutsche ReGas said it had secured binding long-term capacity bookings of 3.6 Bcm/year for its first phase with terms of 5-10 years during an open season.

Any remaining capacity could be marketed on a short-term basis similar to other planned German LNG import projects.

In the second phase, the FSRU will be moved from the port to an offshore location where it will be combined with another FSRU, with a combined capacity of 13.5 Bcm/year. The second FSRU is planned to be deployed from December 2023.