Dutch state-owned energy network operator Gasunie and VTTI, the energy and chemicals storage unit co-owned by Vitol, IFM and ADNOC, are looking to develop additional storage and import capacity for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Netherlands.
Gasunie said it intends to temporarily expand its existing LNG facilities in Eemshaven and Rotterdam, but is also looking to set up one or more new floating LNG terminals at the port of Terneuzen.
The operator added these measures could be deployed as early as next winter (2023/2024) and preferably before the gas storage filling season starts in April 2023. They would be temporary “because of the importance of the transition to a sustainable energy supply” such as hydrogen.
Meanwhile, VTTI is exploring a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU)-based facility that would be connected to one of the largest industrial clusters in the Netherlands and to the Dutch and European gas grid in early 2024.
The FRSU would have an annual throughput capacity of about 5bn cu m, corresponding to around 15% of the current total gas consumption in the Netherlands. In time, VTTI said it could also use the infrastructure for the import of hydrogen.
The studies are said to be in line with the plans Minister for Climate and Energy Rob Jetten sent to the Dutch parliament earlier this month calling for government support for such projects. According to Gasinue, additional LNG import capacity of 5bn to 8bn cu m per year would be required as early as 2023 to ensure that more LNG can reach the Netherlands as an alternative to Russian piped gas, which could lead to “an improvement in the affordability of gas and an improvement in the price level”.
