Gasunie says Dutch LNG platform could be ready by August
Dutch energy utility Gasunie expects to receive the 600mn ft3/day floating LNG facility for its import terminal project in Groningen province by early August, the company said on April 25.
The tendering process has started for imports via the new facility, dubbed EemsEnergyTerminal, which will pump regasified LNG into the Dutch grid and onto other European gas markets. Customers can make purchases for physical deliveries as early as winter 2022.
Gasunie has been enlisted by the Dutch government to help increase domestic LNG import capacity from 12bn m3/year to 24bn m3/yr. The upgrade includes the new terminal at Groningen's seaport town of Eemshaven as well as an expansion to its existing 12bn m3/yr facility in Rotterdam.
Exmar's S188 floating LNG platform has been hired under a five-year charter and is expected to arrive at its mooring station in Eemshaven in early August. The floating vessel will help meet European energy security needs in the immediate term, but Gasunie expects to ultimately replace it with a permanent LNG installation.
Groningen's onshore gas field – Europe's largest onshore gas producer – is due to close in 2022 because of earthquakes caused by operations. The LNG facility will replace some of its contribution to European gas flows, and will benefit from its proximity to existing infrastructures.
Gasunie executive board member Ulco Vermeulen said: "We will now enter further negotiations with potential customers. They will be the ones who will be using our terminal in the near future, initially for LNG, and later for green hydrogen."