Dragon LNG said in a statement that it has taken account of feedback from an expression of interest held last year, which generated interest from a “broad range of potential customers.”
The LNG terminal operator said it will offer customers one of the few opportunities to bid for firm primary LNG regasification capacity in Northwest Europe.
Dragon LNG expects to offer a new “bundle” model, with capacity available in tranches as small as 1.11 bcm/a (12,012 GWh/a ), the he opportunity for those with larger capacity requirements to secure up to 100 percent of Dragon LNG’s capacity (9Bcm/a), as well as flexibility for customers to bid for any combination of small or large lots with capacity available for a minimum term of 10-years.
“Dragon LNG can supply 10 percent of the UK’s natural gas needs and has provided safe, reliable, and flexible regasification of LNG since 2009,” Simon Ames, managing director of Dragon LNG, said.
“In line with regulatory requirements, we are now opening up our regasification capacity to the market. This approach allows all market participants access to a UK terminal, driving competition at auction and delivering a secure and diverse source of gas supply to the UK,” Ames said.
End of 2025
The market consultation phase aims to test and elicit feedback from prospective customers on Dragon’s product offer, non-binding terms, and capacity allocation process.
It will be open on September 4 and closes on October 10 at 5 pm UK time.
Following the market consultation, a capacity auction process is expected to launch at the end of 2025, Dragon LNG said.
VTTI and Shell
Last year, Rotterdam-based storage terminal owner VTTI, co-owned by Vitol, IFM, and Adnoc, completed its deal with infrastructure manager Ancala to buy its 50 percent shareholding in the Dragon LNG terminal.
UK-based LNG giant Shell also has a 50 percent stake in Dragon LNG.
Dragon LNG’s regasification terminal is one of the three LNG terminals in the UK.
The terminal’s infrastructure includes a jetty and two 160,000-cbm storage tanks.
Shell and Petronas have 50 percent capacity rights at the facility, each. The Malaysian company sold its 50 percent share in the facility to Ancala in 2019, but it kept a long-term throughput agreement with the terminal.
