The first German LNG terminal was opened in mid-November, and now the first delivery seems to be working before the holidays, because according to the report, the tanker “Höegh Esperanza” is heading for Wilhelmshaven.
The first LNG tanker for Germany is expected in Wilhelmshaven at the end of the week. The tanker and terminal ship “Höegh Esperanza” loaded with liquefied natural gas is on its way to the North Sea port, as the terminal operator Uniper confirmed to the news magazine “Spiegel” according to a report from the weekend. This means that the start of the first LNG terminal in Germany is imminent.
The tanker has been heading for Wilhelmshaven since Saturday, according to data from the Marinetraffic portal. The 294 meter long and 46 meter wide tanker of the Norwegian company Höegh LNG should therefore reach Wilhelmshaven next Saturday. The tanker is currently still sailing through the Mediterranean Sea, this morning it was heading for the Straits of Gibraltar.
The “Höegh Esperanza” is a floating LNG terminal. The ship has a facility in which the liquefied natural gas, which has been cooled to around minus 162 degrees, can be converted back into a gas form. The federal government has chartered the “Höegh Esperanza” for Wilhelmshaven. The tanker itself can load up to 170,000 cubic meters of liquefied natural gas; in gaseous form, this corresponds to around 100 million cubic meters of natural gas. Uniper is to operate the LNG terminal together with partners on behalf of the state.
In the future, up to 7.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year are to be handled and fed into the grid in the floating terminal in Wilhelmshaven, which corresponds to around 8.5 percent of German gas consumption. To this end, two more floating terminals in Brunsbüttel (RWE) and Lubmin (Deutsche Regas) are to start operations in the coming weeks. Together, the three plants could cover about 20 percent of Germany’s annual needs.
