USA LNG Co Signs FSRU Deal with Germany

U.S. based LNG company Excelerate Energy, Inc. (NYSE: EE) has announced that EE and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany have signed a five-year contract to charter the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Excelsior.

The deal will help provide energy security and supply diversification to Germany while supporting the country’s transition to renewable energy, according to EE, which noted that, under the terms of the agreement, Excelsior will go on charter in the first quarter of 2023. The Federal Republic of Germany intends to deploy the vessel in the Port of Wilhelmshaven, EE highlighted.

“The deployment of the FSRU Excelsior to Germany demonstrates our commitment to strengthening energy security at a time when traditional energy sources have proven unreliable,” Steven Kobos, the president and CEO of Excelerate, said in a company statement.

“FSRUs have the ability to offer flexible access to greater supply diversification and can serve as a complementary backstop for the rapid scaling of green energy projects. These benefits are consistent with the stated goals of the U.S.-EU Task Force on Energy Security,” he added.

Last month, EE announced that, on August 25, the company and ENGIE signed a term sheet for the deployment of an FSRU “that will provide flexible and secure LNG regasification capacity for Germany as it continues to seek alternatives to Russian pipeline gas supply”.

In a company statement at the time, EE noted that, under the proposed agreement, the business would deploy an FSRU from its integrated fleet to provide regasification services for a period of five years at Germany’s fifth planned LNG import terminal, which is being developed at the port of Wilhelmshaven by Tree Energy Solutions and ENGIE.

Last month, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action announced that it had chartered a fifth floating LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven, which it said will be available by the winter of 2023/24, “in addition to the four specialized vessels which had already been chartered by the Federal Government”.

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