LNG terminal in Eemshaven handled 92 ships for Czechia, delivering 14 months' worth of gas

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Eemshaven, the Netherlands, which has been operating since September 2022, has handled a total of 92 ships carrying gas for Czechia in its four years of operation. The ships brought a total of 8.2 billion cubic metres of gas, equivalent to around 14 months of domestic gas consumption and more than four years of consumption by all Czech households. Imports have continued this year at the same pace as last year, despite the crisis in the Middle East. The energy company ČEZ told the Czech News Agency. According to the company, the deliveries contained no Russian gas, and most of the ships came from the United States.

Eemshaven was the first LNG terminal to start operating in Europe since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, with the first ship arriving there in September 2022. The facility can process eight billion cubic metres of gas a year, of which up to three billion can be sent to the Czech Republic. In addition to ČEZ, other prominent energy companies have booked capacity at the terminal: British-Dutch Shell and France’s Engie.

So far this year alone, 20 ships chartered by ČEZ have arrived at the Dutch terminal, carrying a total of 1.8 billion cubic metres of gas.

"LNG deliveries through the Eemshaven facility helped us ensure an adequate gas supply for Czech households and industry even during the energy crisis. The current situation also confirms how important our decision to invest in capacity at the floating terminal was. The war in the Middle East has significantly disrupted global gas trade, but LNG for ČEZ continues to flow to Eemshaven without interruption. That is because we transport most of the gas by tanker directly from fields in the United States," said ČEZ CEO Daniel Beneš.

According to the company, its involvement in the terminal’s operations has also helped with planning and negotiating deliveries. "We actively negotiate with partners on the global market, which has paid off considerably this year, and we bought LNG in good time despite the current market shortage. We are also constantly expanding our expertise in this area. For example, last year we delivered a ship to the terminal for the very first time, taking care of its entire voyage—from negotiations with the LNG supplier in the United States and loading the ship to the voyage itself and its return," said David Viduna, ČEZ’s LNG manager.

ČEZ has leased capacity until September next year, but this year the government tasked the company with negotiating an extension of the lease. The terminal operator has not yet concluded talks with interested parties. In addition to Eemshaven, ČEZ plans to use the onshore terminal in Stade, Germany, in the future, and it also has a contract with Algerian state-owned company Sonatrach.