State-owned Deutsche Energy Terminal (DET) has begun commercial operations at its second Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal, the firm announced on August 29.

Following a successful commissioning phase and several weeks of test operations, as well as functional and performance tests, Wilhelmshaven now has its second operating LNG terminal.

Wilhelmshaven’s first LNG terminal received its first shipment of LNG from the US in January 2023 after coming online one month earlier.

The facility was the first new terminal opened after Germany announced plans to develop LNG terminals and shift away from Russian pipeline gas following its invasion of Ukraine.

Wilhelmshaven’s second floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) “Excelsior”, which is operated by US firm Excelerate Energy, will feed natural gas into the country’s grid and play a key role in strengthening energy security.

The facility boasts a capacity of 1.9bn cubic metres of natural gas, which is enough to cover the heating requirements of about 1.5mn homes. DET is aiming to expand capacity to 4.6bn cubic metres in 2026 and about 3.7mn households.

“Wilhelmshaven 02 combines several technologies that are unique in Germany and Europe, from the FSRU to onshore feed-in.” Dr. Peter Röttgen, Managing Director of DET, said in a statement.

The state-run company has already filled up all regasification slots for 2025 and 2026 already for the LNG terminal located in northwestern Germany.

DET has awarded an on-site terminal operations contract to Gasfin, which served as a consultant during the planning and implementation phase. The company has also handled operational management for DET’s Brunsbuttel LNG terminal.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian LNG firm KN Energies will handle commercial management, technical operations, and maintenance of the terminal.

Having previously relied on Russian pipeline gas for more than half of its gas supply, Berlin has now leaned into LNG. Germany has set an ambitious target of surpassing 70mn tonnes per year (tpy) of peak LNG import capacity by 2030.