Germany’s federally owned Deutsche Energy Terminal GmbH (DET) announced the arrival of its third FSRU unit and the second to be placed in the port of Wilhelmshaven. Coming a little over two months after another German company terminated an FSRU contract in the east, the country continues to work to balance the imports of LNG and plan for the country’s long-term energy needs.
With the support of the German government, the LNG import projects were started in 2022 to replace the flow of gas from Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine. Five FSRU units were chartered with the first going to Wilhelmshaven and later ones placed at strategic points around the country. The first LNG cargo arrived in January 2023.
“This winter, we saw how quickly German natural gas storage facilities are depleting. The discontinuation of pipeline-based gas deliveries via Ukraine at the turn of the year put our European neighbors under pressure,” said Dr. Peter Röttgen, Managing Director of DET. “Past experience has shown us: As long as renewables do not yet fully cover our energy needs, a reliable natural gas supply remains crucial.”
A specially developed second terminal was built in Wilhelmshaven to support the arrival of the second FSRU unit. It is a purpose-built island jetty in the Jade Stream with the company highlighting the unique structure. While it is in the seabed of the Jade Stream, the steel structure has no physical connection to the dyke 1.5 kilometers away. It is connected to the onshore transfer station underwater via various pipelines.
“In order to reliably fill the storage facilities for next winter and keep natural gas prices as low as possible for industry, commerce, and, last but not least, households, we need the capacity of LNG terminals to strengthen the resilience of our energy supply – especially in crisis situations,” said Röttgen.
On April 28, the FSRU Excelsior reached Wilhelmshaven. The 277-meter-long Floating Storage and Regasification Unit built in 2005 and owned by the shipping company Excelerate Energy will be operated by DET. In the coming weeks, the floating regasification vessel will be connected to the long-distance gas grid and prepared for commissioning under strict safety requirements.
Wilhelmshaven02 is DET’s second terminal in Wilhelmshaven and, together with Brunsbüttel, DET’s third terminal. The FSRU Excelsior has a storage capacity of 138,000 cubic meters of LNG.
In 2025, the regasification ship will feed up to 1.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas into the German gas grid. This corresponds to the natural gas consumption for heating 1.5 million households in apartment buildings. In each of the two subsequent years, the regasification and grid feed-in capacity of the Excelsior will then reach up to 4.6 billion cubic meters, which is equivalent to the heating energy required by up to 3.7 million four-person households.
Deutsche ReGas in February terminated its charter for the FSRU Energos Power. The 174,000 cbm vessel had been operating since February 2024 as one of the two FSRUs on the 13.5 /year Deutsche Ostsee LNG import terminal, located in the port of Mukran (Rügen Island), Germany. Reports suggested the vessel would be going to Egypt, but the 145,000 cbm FSRU Neptune which is 50 percent owned by Hoegh LNG and sub-chartered by Deutsche ReGas from TotalEnergies remained operational at the terminal in the eastern part of the country.
Data from the German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur), highlighted that the FSRUs now represent about eight percent of the country’s LNG imports. Approximately 69 TWh of natural gas were imported via the LNG terminals in Wilhelmshaven, Brunsbüttel, Lubmin, and Mukran during the 2024-2025 season.
