German LNG Terminal shortlists EPC contractors

German LNG Terminal, the joint venture behind the LNG terminal project in Brunsbuettel, Northern Germany, has completed the EPC contractor pre-qualification process that started at the end of June this year.

Following the selection process, four EPC contractors have been shortlisted to continue the competitive tender process, the joint venture said in its statement.

The shortlisted consortia, Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios and Sener Ingeniería y Sistemas; Hyundai Engineering and Korea Gas Corporation, Sacyr Fluor and Entrepose Contracting / VINCI Construction Grands Projets and Sacyr Somague, as well as Tecnicas Reunidas joint venture with Heitkamp HIKB.

The EPC tender closing is on December 5, 2019, with subsequent EPC contract award planned before the end of April 2020.

The EPC scope contains a jetty with two berths for LNG carriers ranging from 1,000 up to 265,000-cbm, both with LNG unloading and loading capabilities, LNG storage tanks, LNG vaporization and distribution facilities for a total capacity up to 8 bcm per annum.

The launch of the EPC tender is a significant step in the continued development of the German LNG terminal project, the statement reads.

Following the conclusion of the scoping phase at the end of July, also the permit approval process is moving forward. Serious commercial interest in the LNG terminal project is shown by heads of agreements (HOA), signed by major European and non-European LNG players.

The German LNG Terminal is a joint venture of the Dutch companies Gasunie LNG Holding and Vopak LNG Holding as well as Oiltanking, a unit of Marquard & Bahls, Hamburg.

The terminal will be located near the North Sea along the Elbe river, and close to the Kiel Canal and will have easy access to markets in northwest Europe, Scandinavia, and the Baltics.

It is also close to the port of Hamburg, which has LNG bunker potential and the ChemCoast Park that includes industrial customers with high energy needs.

It is worth noting that the German federal government supports the construction of such a terminal as it contributes to gas supply diversification and provides efficient supply chains for LNG as an alternative fuel.

Additionally, the terminal is expected to contribute to energy diversification in Germany and will support the introduction of LNG as a cleaner fuel alternative in maritime and road transport.

The terminal will combine a variety of services, such as the unloading and loading of LNG carriers, the temporary storage of LNG, the re-gasification of LNG and its send-out into the German natural gas network and LNG distribution by trucks and rail cars.