Fos Cavaou LNG Terminal

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Fos Cavaou LNG Terminal is an operating LNG terminal in Bouches-du-Rhône, France. Expansions to the terminal have been proposed.

Location

The map below shows the terminal, in the commune of Fos-sur-Mer, in Istres Arondissement, Bouches-du-Rhône Department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region.

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Project details

• Owner: Fosmax LNG, Elengy
• Parent: Engie (100%)
• Location: Fos-sur-Mer Commune, Istres Arondissement, Bouches-du-Rhône Department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region, France
• Coordinates: 43.41963, 4.90102 (exact)
• Capacity: 10 bcm/y (7.35 mtpa)
  • Formerly 8.25 bcm/y, 6.06 mtpa
• Status: Operating
• Type: Import
• Start year: 2009

Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day

Background

Fos Cavaou LNG Terminal is a liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal in Bouches-du-Rhône. The terminal is owned by Fosmax LNG, which is in turn owned by Engie.

The terminal was first proposed in 2005, and construction began in February 2005 but experienced delays, extending the construction period by eight months. An approximate final investment decision date was presumed to be February 2005, given the fact that construction had begun at that time.

The terminal began operating in 2009 and became fully operational in September 2010.

According to Food and Water Europe's profile on gas use in France, "Between January 2012 and March 2019 (and for Dunkerque since it started operating in January 2017), the four existing LNG terminals were only used at an average of about 30% of their capacity. At the end of 2016 while the Dunkirk terminal was just about to be commissioned, Engie, its main operator, announced it would cut 1,150 jobs in the French LNG sector. Despite these more than sufficient infrastructures, especially in a context of important gas demand reduction, France receives significant support (notably via the List of Projects of Common Interest) to further develop its gas network and transmission capacity."

In December 2019, Elengy said the Montoir LNG Terminal in western France was fully booked between 2023 and 2035, with only a little capacity available in 2021 and 2022. Elengy also stated that it would study options for offering capacity at the Fos Cavaou LNG Terminal beyond 2030, and at the Montoir LNG Terminal beyond 2035.

In June 2020, Total and Sonatrach renewed their LNG partnership, allowing an additional 2 mtpa of Algerian LNG to be delivered to the French market through the Fos Cavaou LNG Terminal.

Ownership

In February 2020, French energy group Total had sold its 27.5% interest in Fosmax LNG, which operates France’s Fos Cavaou liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to Elengy, a subsidiary of Engie.

Expansion projects

Expansion 1 (Debottlenecking)

• Owner: Fosmax LNG, Elengy
• Parent: Engie (100%)
• Location: Fos-sur-Mer Commune, Istres Arondissement, Bouches-du-Rhône Department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region, France
• Coordinates: 43.41963, 4.90102 (exact)
• Capacity: 1.75 bcm/y (1.29 mtpa) (inferred from difference between old and new capacity, above)
  • Formerly 2.75 bcm/y (2.02 mtpa) (optimization and debottlenecking processes)
  • Formerly: 1.5 bcm/y, 1.2 mtpa by 2024
  • Formerly: 11 TWh (about 0.76 mtpa) by 2022
• Cost:
  • Formerly: €1.571 billion (US$1.79 billion) for the initial 2024 Expansion 1 and 2030 Expansion 2 projects
• Status: Operating
• Type: Import
• FID status: FID
• Start year: 2022
  • Formerly: 2024
  • Formerly: 2022

Expansion 2

• Owner: Fosmax LNG, Elengy
• Parent: Engie (100%)
• Location: Fos-sur-Mer Commune, Istres Arondissement, Bouches-du-Rhône Department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region, France
• Coordinates: 43.41963, 4.90102 (exact)
• Capacity: 5.5 bcm/y (4.04 mtpa)
  • Formerly: 2.0 bcm/y, 1.6 mtpa by 2030
  • Formerly: 13 TWh (about 0.9 mtpa) by 2023
• Status: Proposed
• Type: Import
• FID status: Pre-FID
• Start year:
  • Formerly: 2030
  • Formerly: 2023

Background

There are two proposed expansion projects. Initially, it was proposed that the first project would add 1.5 bcm/y of capacity by 2024, and the second would add 2.0 bcm/y capacity by 2030.

According to Natural Gas Intel, Engie SA subsidiary Elengy has considered expanding capacity at its receiving terminals in France, including the Montoir LNG Terminal, which is now fully booked from 2023-2035, and the Fos Cavaou LNG Terminal. These expansions are in response to a second wave of U.S. export facilities expected to come online in the years ahead.

Elengy was reported to be starting 'Open Season Fos Cavaou' in January 2021, offering to the market capacities already available from 2022, as well as the possibility to subscribe additional capacity and the extension of the terminal beyond 2030.

In March 2022, in response to EU efforts to reduce Russian gas imports, Engie proposed to increase the capacity of the terminal by 11 TWh in 2022 and an additional 13 TWh in 2023.

According to the October 2022 ENTSOG Ten-Year Network Development Plan, expansion project for Fos Cavaou LNG will expand the terminal's capacity from 8.25 bcm/y up to 16.5 bcm/y, with an intermediate step at 11 bcm/y. A December 2022 Argus Media article described Fos Cavaou's first expansion as a result of optimization and/or debottlenecking processes.

According to the GIIGNL report released in July 2023, technical debottlenecking increased the capacity of Fos Cavaou terminal to 8 mtpa in May 2023, and work on possible capacity increases is ongoing.