Enagas SA has decided to launch a proper auction following a “high level of participation” in a non-binding bidding activity for logistics rights for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in northern Spain that carries a inactive decade
The binding round for the Asturias province’s El Musel facility aims to award 100 percent of capacity, loading, unloading and storage, with “long-term” contracts, the company said on Monday in a statement.
Enagás has set June 30 as the deadline for the submission of offers. Sixteen shippers had expressed interest during the non-binding phase held in March, according to the media release.
“This Open Season for the allocation of logistics services on the Musel represents a milestone for the start of commercial operations of the terminal, which is part of the Government’s More Energy Security Plan, and will strengthen the security of supply energy in Europe”. Said the owner of Madrid.
Located in the Cantabrian basin in the port city of Gijón, El Musel concluded three years of construction in 2012. The tender paves the way for the commercial commissioning of the two-bay, two-tank terminal after it had been stalled for a decade.
It has a regasification capacity of 800,000 cubic feet and can store up to 300,000 cubic feet of LNG, according to an asset catalog published by Enagas.
“The Gijón terminal could contribute up to 8 bcm (billion cubic meters) of LNG capacity per year to Europe’s energy supply security,” Monday’s announcement said.
It won approval from the National Markets and Competition Commission in February, a necessary step before commercial rights for the terminal could be awarded, Enagás said on March 2.
Later in February, Enagás announced an agreement with local natural gas carrier Reganosa in which it acquires a 25 percent stake in El Musel for $102 million (€95 million). In exchange, Enagás is acquiring an 80.78-mile (130-kilometer) pipeline network from Reganosa for $58 million (€54 million), Enagás announced on Feb. 28.
Eyes on Germany
Enagas CEO Arturo Gonzalo Aspiri said the terminal planned to export to Germany, amid supply challenges triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This will give flexibility and storage capacity to European operators, primarily in Germany,” he said in a Bloomberg report on September 8, 2022.
Europe’s biggest economy declared an alert level for gas supplies in June 2022 after Russia cut deliveries “which led to a considerable deterioration of the supply situation”, the German government said a press release on June 23.
The Nord Stream pipeline connecting Germany and Russia resumed supplies in July 2022 after being shut down for what the operator said was maintenance, according to a July 21, 2022 press release from Nord Stream AG.
But the Baltic Sea carrier was damaged in September 2022 by what a Swedish probe said was sabotage by unknown actors. An April 6, 2023 update of the investigation by the prosecutor’s office in Sweden, where part of the two Nord Stream pipelines are located, said the damage had been caused by “detonations” and that both pipelines had suffered a blow. A report by Russian state media TASS on 20 May 2023 said that Nord Stream remained “completely suspended”.
However, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner told the BBC in a report on 18 January 2023 that his country no longer depends on Russian energy: “Yes, of course, Germany still depends on energy imports, but today not from Russian imports but from world markets.” .
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