Mukran FSRU

From Global Energy Monitor
This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.
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Mukran FSRU, also known as Mukran LNG Terminal, Rügen LNG Terminal and Energy Terminal Mukran “Deutsche Ostsee”, is a liquefied natural gas (LNG) floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) import terminal proposed in Germany.[1][2]

Location

The terminal is proposed to be located offshore at the port of Mukran on Rügen Island, Germany.[1]

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Project details

  • Operator:
  • Owner: Deutsche ReGas[1]
  • Parent company: Deutsche ReGas[1]
  • Vessel #1: Neptune[1]
  • Vessel operator:
  • Vessel owner: TotalEnergies[1]
  • Vessel parent company: TotalEnergies[1]
  • Vessel #2: Transgas Power[1]
  • Vessel operator: Dynagas[3]
  • Vessel owner: Dynagas[3]
  • Vessel parent company:
  • Location: Mukran port, Rügen Island, Germany[1]
  • Coordinates: 54.483347, 13.587524 (approximate)
  • Capacity:
  • Capacity (Phase 2): 13.5 bcm/y[3]
  • Status: Construction[4]
  • Type: Import[1]
  • Start year: Q1 2024[1]
  • Cost:
  • Financing:
  • FID status:
  • Associated infrastructure:

Background

Mukran FSRU is a LNG import facility planned for the island of Rügen, Germany, comprising two floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs).[1] Deutsche ReGas will deploy Dynagas' Transgas Power FSRU at the site and it move TotalEnergies' FSRU Neptune from Lubmin FSRU facility, also owned by Deutsche ReGas, to Mukran FSRU in late 2023.[3] The project's final capacity after the installation of both FSRUs will be 13.5 bcm/y.[3] The initially proposed capacity was 18 bcm/y, and the project was downsized given local resistance and an easing of energy bottlenecks in Germany.[5]

The original sponsor, RWE, announced in May 2023 that it was no longer involved in the project.[6][7]

In July 2023, the Bundestag passed amendments to the national LNG Acceleration Act that allowed for the fast-tracking of the construction of the project.[8]

In August 2023, Deutsche ReGas announced that it had booked all of the offered regasification capacity at the terminal during its binding open season, which amounted to 4 bcm/y over a period of at least 10 years. The firm said that the remaining volumes will be offered at a later date.[3]

In September 2023, the Leipzig Federal Administrative Court allowed Gascade's connection pipeline to the facility to proceed, over environmental groups' objections.[9]

In February 2024, it was reported that the first FSRU was at the facility and had begun trial operations.[4]

Opposition

Environmentalists, local politicians, and the tourism sector have strongly opposed the project.[10] Germany's Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) has said that, “The planned liquefied gas terminal off Rügen is to be built in the middle of a marine protection area. That would destroy parts of the seabed and endanger the already polluted Greifswalder Bodden, its habitats and native species.”[11]

In July 2023, the mayof of Binz, a resort town on Rügen, has said it will take legal action against the federal government. Residents have expressed concern that the projects will impact marine life and tourism.[12]

In August 2023, Global Energy Monitor's Inside Gas summarized the state of opposition toward the project, "Controversy and legal actions are intensifying over the planned LNG import terminal on Germany’s tourist island of Rügen. With local opposition to the project continuing, Germany’s economy minister and vice chancellor Robert Habeck has appealed to state authorities in the country’s north-east to allow its construction, claiming that increasingly likely delays will lead to a “risk of incalculable price increases, supply bottlenecks and severe economic damage, which would hit eastern Germany in particular.” Both the local municipality of Binz, the largest city on Rügen, and the NGO Deutsche Umwelthilfe have filed lawsuits aimed at halting the construction of an undersea pipeline that would connect the terminal with the mainland. While the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is calling for an environmental impact assessment of the project, it has been slammed by environment groups — including WWF Deutschland — for allowing dredging work for the pipeline to commence ahead of assessment procedures, which they say will damage the marine environment in the Baltic Sea. The civil disobedience movement Ende Gelände will hold a camp on Rügen island in late September."[13]

Articles and resources

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 "Germany builds up LNG import terminals". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  2. LNG Prime Staff (2023-06-16). "Deutsche ReGas to launch binding open season for Mukran LNG terminal capacity". LNG Prime. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 LNG Prime Staff (2023-08-09). "Deutsche ReGas says Mukran LNG capacity booked". LNG Prime. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Unabhängige Energieversorgung: LNG-Terminal Mukran auf Rügen nimmt Arbeit auf". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in Deutsch). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  5. "Germany scales down LNG terminal plans as supply crisis eases". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  6. LNG Prime Staff (2023-05-23). "Germany's RWE says it is not involved in Mukran LNG plans". LNG Prime. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  7. "RWE Draws Up Plans to Exit Controversial German LNG Project - BNN Bloomberg". BNN. 2023-05-10. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  8. Reuters. German parliament backs fast-track plans for LNG terminals. July 7, 2023.
  9. Reuters. German Mukran LNG import terminal seen ready by first quarter - Gascade head. September 20, 2023.
  10. manager magazin. "Bund plant LNG-Terminal in Mukran auf Rügen" (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  11. "Why the planned LNG terminal off Rügen is so controversial". Globe Echo. 2023-04-20. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  12. Offshore Technology. German town plans legal action over LNG terminals. July 11, 2023.
  13. Global Energy Monitor's Inside Gas. Issue 50. August 31, 2023.