Hanseatic LNG Open Season Secures Full Interest

Hanseatic Energy Hub (HEH) has concluded its extended open season for LNG import capacity in north Germany with confirmed market interest accounting for the full planned capacity of the terminal. The next stage is to progress to binding offers, planned for the second quarter, before a final investment decision on the 12bn m³/yr project may be taken.

Commercial director Danielle Stoves said in a February 22 statement that the non-binding phase was designed not just to secure volume indications, but to ensure that the offering met the market demand. "This has helped us improve our products and given us a head-start on getting the first version of our terminal user agreement drafted,” she said. 

This first phase also attracted interest from very large global players that HEH had not previously signed letters of intent with. HEH CEO Manfred Schubert said: “The bids and volume requests we received confirms our proposal to base the development on 12bn m³/yr capacity. We continue to move ahead with our technical design and permitting according to schedule.”

The site chosen for the terminal is brownfield and near an industrial park which might enable low-cost vaporisation. It is near the mouth of the Elbe as well as the high-pressure grid and storage facilities. It will be able to accommodate vessels up to the Q-Max size. 

German utility Uniper was forced to revise its plans when it failed to secure sufficient interest from the market for its terminal and is considering adapting it for hydrogen imports. Another project is backed by Dutch Gasunie and Vopak and German Oiltanking, at Brunsbuttel. That is smaller than HEH and it is yet to reach the binding bids stage.  And as of November it was still in talks with potential clients.