El Musel LNG terminal welcomes first commercial ship

Energy major Enagás has announced that the El Musel LNG terminal in Gijón, Spain, has received power major Endesa’s first vessel, the 180,000 m3 capacity Gaslog Warsaw, following the final technical tests required before the plant’s commercial commissioning.

According to Enagás, on 31 July, following the successful completion of the capacity allocation procedure (open season), Endesa began operations as Enagás awarded the contract for the terminal’s logistics services.

Energy major said that this procedure attracted great interest from shippers, adding that the logistics services offered for this infrastructure are LNG unloading, storage and loading operations.

It further noted that under the regulated access regime, El Musel will only offer minimal regasification service for the proper management of the terminal, as well as the truck loading service.

For Endesa, Enagás said, the allocation of the logistics services offered by this infrastructure is an important milestone: “El Musel will offer Endesa flexibility at a time when European terminals are overloaded. Furthermore, the LNG tanks provide storage capacity, and the exclusive use of the terminal opens up new business opportunities, all of which will contribute to strengthening Europe’s energy security.”

Enagás further noted that Endesa will provide the supply necessary for the optimal operation of the terminal, as well as truck loading and injection into the transmission network.

To remind, In July, the terminal received two ships as a necessary technical precursor to the commercial commissioning of the terminal: the Cool Racer and the Dorado LNG, both with a capacity of 174,000 m3.

The terminal is expected to contribute up to 8 bcm of LNG capacity per year to Europe’s security of energy supply, and according to Enagás, will allow the berthing of vessels of between 50,000 and 266,000 m³. The terminal has two tanks of 150,000 m³ of LNG storage capacity, two truck loading bays with a capacity to load a maximum of 9 GWh/d and a maximum emission capacity of 800,000 Nm³/h.

On 28 February, Enagás and Reganosa signed an agreement whereby Enagás acquired Reganosa’s 130 km gas pipeline network and Reganosa 25% of the El Musel terminal. Enagás said that once this transaction is completed, the composition of the shareholders of the El Musel will be 75% Enagás and 25% Reganosa.

• WATCH: Commissioning cargo delivered to El Musel LNG terminal
• Spanish government greenlights El Musel LNG terminal start-up

Follow Offshore Energy’s Clean Fuel: