Germany’s third LNG terminal drawing closer to startup

A floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) has arrived in Germany’s Wilhelmshaven to form part of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal operated by Deutsche Energy Terminal (DET).

According to DET, FSRU Excelsior reached its purpose-built island pier in the Jade River near Wilhelmshaven on April 28, 2025, marking a milestone for the Wilhelmshaven 2 terminal. The plant will be connected to the gas grid and put into operation following extensive tests to be carried out in the coming weeks.

Designed as an island jetty, the terminal is located approximately 1.5 kilometres offshore, two kilometres south of the already operational Wilhelmshaven 1 terminal, which was officially commissioned for service in December 2022. This will be DET’s third operational terminal in the country, together with Brunsbüttel. A fourth one, Stade, is under construction.

The operator sees this as another crucial step towards securing energy supplies and stabilizing gas prices in Germany and throughout Europe. With a planned annual capacity of up to 4.6 billion cubic metres of natural gas, the terminal is anticipated to increase the resilience of energy supply.

Dr. Peter Röttgen, Managing Director of DET, commented: “The arrival of the Excelsior is another milestone towards the completion of the Wilhelmshaven02 terminal, and thus for security of supply and stabilization of gas prices in Germany and Europe. 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.”

Owned by Excelerate Energy, Excelsior is 277 meters long, with a storage capacity of 138,000 cubic meters and a regasification capacity of up to 500 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd). The vessel is set to work with DET under a five-year charter contract, boosting the capacity of Wilhelmshaven’s first terminal.

The 2005-built vessel will be connected to the German natural gas grid via the second Wilhelmshaven connecting pipeline (WAL II) of Open Grid Europe (OGE). In 2025, the FSRU is expected to feed up to 1.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas into the German gas grid.

A specially constructed island pier, built by Engie and Tree Energy Solutions (TES), was also inaugurated. Said to be unparalleled in Germany in terms of engineering, the steel structure has no physical connection to the dike located 1.5 kilometers away. It is connected to the onshore transfer station via subsea pipelines.

ECOnnect Energy was in charge of delivering a jettyless ready IQuay solution for the offshore jetty.