According to a joint statement on Monday, the conditional decision is based on recently concluded commercial contracts for the period 2028-2036 and on a government-committed guarantee.
The partners said that they have contracted a “significant part” of the offered capacity.
Gasunie and Vopak did not provide further details regarding capacity bookings.
For the remaining capacity, EemsEnergyTerminal is holding discussions with various parties, they said.
“The final investment decision (FID) by the shareholders will follow once the necessary permits have been obtained,” the statement said.
The Eemshaven LNG hub consists of two chartered FSRUs, the 170,000-cbm FSRU Energos Igloo, owned by Energos Infrastructure, and the 26,000-cbm barge-based FSRU Eemshaven LNG, owned by Exmar.
Moreover, it is the first FSRU-based terminal in the Netherlands and the second LNG import terminal in the country after Gate, also operated by Gasunie and Vopak.
The terminal has been operational since September 2022 and was originally contracted for a period of five years.
It has a capacity of 8 billion cubic meters and supplies natural gas to capacity holders UK-based Shell, Czech utility CEZ, and France’s Engie.
Shell booked 4 bcm per year of the capacity, CEZ reserved 3 bcm per year, and Engie booked the rest.
The intended extension will enable the import of 8.6 bcm of natural gas per year, which corresponds to approximately 25 percent of the annual Dutch gas demand, the partners said.
Converted FSRU
In October 2025, Gasunie and Vopak joined forces with Belgian shipowner Exmar to convert a large LNG carrier into an FSRU and install the unit at the LNG import facility in the port of Eemshaven.
Exmar said in April this year that it had launched conversion work on the new FSRU. This FSRU will replace Energos Igloo.
The conversion work is the next step in realizing the continued operations of the EemsEnergyTerminal, with an anticipated configuration of two FSRUs owned and operated by Exmar.
The terminal will have a combined storage capacity of approximately 190,000 cbm LNG and a total regasification capacity of 1,350 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD), with improved performance, Exmar said.
