The French government has initiated a public consultation on a potential floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) with an import capacity of 5 bcm/year in the port of Le Havre (Seine-Maritime) on the north-western coast of France. Comments are open until 3 March 2023. In August 2022, TotalEnergies was selected to instal the project, which is expected to be operational as soon as September 2023 for a 5-year period.
In 2021, France imported 45.8 bcm of natural gas (-1% compared to 2020), including 16.8 bcm of LNG. The country currently possesses 4 LNG import terminals. Two are located on the Mediterranean in Fos-sur-Mer: Fos Tokin LNG (3 bcm/year, operated by Elengy, an affiliate of Engie) and Fos Cavaou (8.25 bcm/year, owned by Elengy with a share of 72.5% and TotalEnergies with 27.5%). One is situated on the Atlantic in Montoir-de-Bretagne (10.1 bcm/year, owned by Elengy) and one on the English Channel in Dunkirk (13 cm/year). Dunkerque LNG is 61% owned by a consortium of gas infrastructure group Fluxys, AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets, on behalf of its clients, and Crédit Agricole Assurances, and 39% owned by a consortium of Korean investors led by IPM Group in cooperation with Samsung Asset Management.