Höegh LNG has delivered the Höegh Esperanza Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) to the port of Wilhelmshaven in northern Germany, where it will become the first LNG import terminal in Germany. The FSRU, chartered under a binding 10-year contract with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, will have an LNG storage capacity of 165,000 m3 and will have a regasification capacity of 5 bcm/year (possible ramp up to 7.5 bcm/year), covering around 6% of Germany's gas demand and replacing 11% of the country's gas imports from Russia.
Prior to the completion of the Wilhelmshaven terminal, Germany did not possess any LNG receiving terminal, as 100% of its gas imports (156 bcm in 2021) were conveyed by pipeline, mostly from Russia (43% in 2020). Uniper’s Wilhelmshaven terminal is part of several German LNG projects initiated since the start of the war in Ukraine in an attempt to cut Russian gas imports. In March 2022, Gasunie and RWE announced plans for an 8 bcm/year LNG import terminal in Brunsbüttel. In May 2022, Germany announced that it would charter four FSRUs (two by Uniper and two by RWE) with a total added import capacity of 25 to 29 bcm/year and RWE signed a preliminary deal with Sempra to import 2.25 Mt/year (3 bcm/y) of US LNG. In September 2022, the US company Excelerate announced it would deploy a 5 bcm FSRU, also in Wilhelmshaven.
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