Grain LNG sets record for gas send-out from European terminal

Grain LNG, Europe’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, has exported the highest ever amount of gas in a single day from any European terminal into the UK network. 

The terminal, situated on the Isle of Grain in the Thames estuary, exported 698 GWh of gas, beating its previous record by more than 100 GWh.

The amount of 698 GWh represents around a quarter of UK gas demand, which is enough to supply gas to all of London and the South East.

Grain LNG offers market participants direct access to the UK’s National Balancing Point, a gas trading hub.

Nicola Duffin, commercial manager for Grain LNG, said: “UK gas demand is actually only slightly higher than what we’d normally see this time of year. The record activity is due to a global LNG oversupply, which has seen significantly more cargos head for northwest Europe.

“As a result, we’ve seen a sharp increase in demand for capacity at the terminal. We expect utilization will remain high throughout the winter and beyond.”

Grain LNG recently launched an ‘open season’ process for customers interested in buying capacity from 2025. The terminal is seeking industry feedback on a new service proposal during an initial consultation phase between now and January 10, 2020.

The market is invited to place legally binding bids for the capacity by March 10, 2020, and Grain LNG is expecting to allocate capacity by the end of March 2020.