Dunkirk To Tender LNG Capacity (Update incl Tender Notice)
Dunkerque LNG, owner of the Dunkirk LNG import terminal in northern France, has said that 3bn m3/yr of unsold capacity are to be tendered at the terminal (shown in the photo above, courtesy of the terminal).
Commercial director Christophe Liaud told NGW they will be proposed by Dunkerque LNG to the market as soon as February 1 and that more information will be made public then. (Update: The deadline for expressions of interest in this capacity is March 2; the Call for Market Interest notice was duly posted here on February 1; the minimum capacity request is 1bn m3/yr, during the 18 year period from January 1 2019)
He did not say if the free capacity is being tendered on behalf of any particular shareholder in Dunkerque LNG, which is 65%-owned by EDF, 25% by Belgian gas grid operator Fluxys and 10% by Total.
The overall import/regas capacity of the terminal is 13bn m3/yr, making it the largest of France's four LNG terminals. Last week it received its first ice-breaker LNG vessel from Russia's Yamal LNG project.
Dunkerque LNG also said January 29 it completed its first reloading operation. It said the LNG tanker Provalys, with a cargo capacity of 153,000 m3, was loaded from storage at Dunkirk. Tanker tracking services show it is berthed at Belgium's Zeebrugge terminal at about 3pm Central European Time January 30. LNG taken out of storage at Dunkirk by Provalys almost certainly contained Yamal LNG unloaded from an operation late last week. There have been reports that Provalys might ultimately cross the Atlantic, to become the second 'Russian cargo' delivered into the US northeast.
Dunkerque LNG said it has been offering LNG reload services since late last year. Liaud said: "Thanks to this [new service], our two current customers EDF and Total gain flexibility in the management of their stock." He added that a fast reload service, at a rate of 8,800 m3/hour is planned to become available at Dunkirk at the end of 2018.