Delivering engineering excellence for Germany’s fourth Floating Storage and Regasification Unit terminal

Tractebel supported the completion of the second Wilhelmshaven Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal. The facility will play a vital role in securing Germany’s energy supply by feeding natural gas into the German gas grid, equivalent to the annual heating energy required by nearly four million households.

Pictures: ©Deutsche Energy Terminal GmbH

This strategic energy infrastructure project was developed by Deutsche Energy Terminal GmbH (DET), the owner and operator, in collaboration with project developers FSRU Wilhelmshaven GmbH, a joint venture between ENGIE and Tree Energy Solutions (TES). The terminal, located on Germany’s North Sea coast, consists of a permanently moored FSRU vessel, marine jetty facilities, and an onshore connection to the national gas grid.

A fast-track project with complex stakeholder coordination

The Wilhelmshaven02terminal was developed and constructed in less than three years. This remarkable achievement was made possible through the exceptional collaboration and commitment of all parties involved, including the client, consultants, and contractors.

Initiated in May 2022 under a framework agreement with ENGIE, Tractebel gas and LNG department’s and IMDC (its water engineering subsidiary )’s involvement evolved through multiple phases from site selection, feasibility review, and front-end engineering design studies to detailed engineering and owner’s engineering services.

In October 2023, Tractebel and IMDC signed an Engineering Consultancy Agreement with FSRU Wilhelmshaven GmbH to provide:

• Owner’s Engineering (OE) services for the electrical and instrumentation (E&I) systems for E&I contractor Siemens, for a custom gangway solution connecting the ship to the jetty, and for the jetty and related offshore works for the jetty contractor, Van Oord
• Procurement and construction support: documentation management and control, specifications, fabrication inspections, site supervision, quality control, and independent verifications
• Permit support: specifications and coordination of monitoring campaigns, including analyses of the results to satisfy the permit requirements set by authorities
• Advanced numerical modeling: water levels, waves, currents during normal conditions and storm events, impact of the new structures on the natural behaviour of the seabed, water quality, underwater noise, ship navigation and risk, moored FSRU operations, and ship-to-ship transfer
• UXO clearance and field surveys: Specifications and coordination of different offshore surveys and measurement campaigns to feed into the design process
• Dredging studies and jetty design, including detailed engineering, construction, and installation methodology for the jetty and floating pontoon
• Ad-hoc engineering support across all project aspects

Tractebel’s multidisciplinary team ensured the integration of high-pressure gas systems, instrumentation and control, power distribution, and safety systems within a fast-track schedule and a complex stakeholder environment. The offshore jetty and unmanned control shelters added further technical challenges, successfully addressed through agile engineering and close collaboration. IMDC played a key role in the project, bringing specialised expertise in marine standards and offshore infrastructure, and permitting, preparing the design, and overseeing the implementation of the jetty, pontoon, and mooring systems and the marine coordination of the offshore works.

Key Milestones:

• May 2022: Project launch with ENGIE
• August 2022: Front-end Engineering Design (FEED) studies initiated
• June 2023: Owner’s Engineering services extended to Siemens and Van Oord scope
• October 2023: Agreement signed with FSRU Wilhelmshaven GmbH
• April 28, 2025: FSRU vessel berthed
• May 23, 2025: First gas-in
• June-August 2025: Performance tests and project handover