Uniper to build Germany’s first LNG terminal

German utility Uniper will build and operate Germany’s first terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) at an investment of €65 million, the company said on Thursday.

The company signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the federal government for the chartering of two floating storage and regasification units (FSRU).

The project will go through two phases, the company said. During the first phase, the LNG terminal model will provide the regasification of LNG via an FSRU that can be connected to the existing Umschlagsanlage Voslapper Groden (UVG) sea bridge. The LNG will then be converted into gaseous natural gas which will then be fed into the German natural gas pipeline system.

“For this project phase, the existing UVG has to be adapted and a connection between the FSRU and the onshore facilities has to be established (so-called ship-to-shore interface). The adaptation of the UVG will be carried out by Niedersachsen Ports GmbH & Co. KG (NPorts) in close cooperation with Uniper,” Uniper said in a statement.

“The connection to the natural gas pipeline system 28 kilometers away and thus also to the Etzel natural gas storage facility is currently being implemented by Open Grid Europe GmbH (OGE) and should be completed as soon as possible,” they added.

This phase will take place between 2022 and 2023. The LNG terminal will have the capacity of up to 7.5 billion m³ per year, which is around 8.5 percent of Germany's natural gas requirements to be landed in Wilhelmshaven in the future.