Uniper announced the "first pile driving" for the construction of the German maiden LNG imports terminal project at Wilhelmshaven, as the operator will invest around €65 million for the project.
Uniper announced the "first pile driving" for the construction of the German maiden LNG imports terminal project at Wilhelmshaven, as the operator will invest around €65 million for the project.
The German government has committed to chartering two floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) to be utilized at the terminal. “A letter of intent (LOI) was signed for the chartering” of two FSRUs as “Uniper had optioned both FSRUs on the market for the federal government.”
Under the project’s first phase, the Wilhelmshaven terminal will be connected to the existing UVG sea bridge and regasified LNG will then be fed into the German natural gas pipeline system via a 28-Km connection pipeline which is currently being implemented by Open Grid Europe GmbH (OGE) and “should be completed as soon as possible.”
According to the
Global LNG Database®, Salzgitter AG’s subsidiary Mannesmann Grossrohr (MGR) was selected by the German transmission system operator Open Grid Europe (OGE) to supply the pipes for the Wilhelmshaven LNG imports terminal project’s connection line (WAL).
The WAL is scheduled to go into operation at the end of the year and in order to keep to the extremely tight schedule, the first steel for this important project was melted in the Salzgitter AG steel works.
The connection pipeline runs from the terminal to the vicinity of the Etzel gas storage facility, where it is integrated into the existing German gas pipeline network. From there, the initially up to 10 BCM/Y of gas can be transported from the North Sea coast to the south and east of the country.
“In accordance with the OGE requirements, the MGR line pipes are manufactured in such a way that the line can also transport hydrogen in the future.”
“For the project’s first phase, the existing UVG has to be adapted and a connection between the FSRU and the onshore facilities has to be established.”
The adaptation of the UVG will be carried out by NPorts in close cooperation with Uniper.
Earlier, German Economy Ministry had said that it wants to secure four FSRUs and earmarked 2.94 billion euros for the FSRUs to be sourced from Uniper and RWE, speeding their employment to diversify the country’s sourcing away from Russian pipeline gas.
In addition, an agreement was signed between the federal government and the state of Lower Saxony on the expansion of Wilhelmshaven into a green energy hub for Germany, Uniper said, adding that it is supporting this project with its on-site projects -“in the short term in the form of the LNG terminal, and in the medium and long term in the form of the Green Wilhelmshaven project.”
In other development, Uniper announced that it has facilitated the charter of two FSRUs managed by Athens-based Dynagas to the German government “to diversify and strengthen the security of gas supply to Germany”.
The Transgas Force and Transgas Power FSRUs both built in 2021 have a total natural gas-send-out capacity of up to 7.5 BCM/Y and an LNG storage capacity of 174,000-CM each. “The combined capacity is equivalent to approximately 30% of Russian gas imports into Germany.”
“The FSRUs will commence their service early 2023 with first gas send-out depending on the completion of the onshore installations at the sites selected by the German government.”
“Our site in Wilhelmshaven and the Dynagas’ FSRUs will provide an important cornerstone to achieve a greater diversification of natural gas supplies," said Uniper CEO, Klaus Maubach.
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