High environmental and safety standards at the Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal
The LNG handling and regasification process on an FSRU is a technology that has been tried and tested worldwide for decades. Many years of experience, regular training, highly qualified employees and modern technology ensure optimum safety at the Wilhelmshaven site. Our top priority is to ensure maximum safety and minimum environmental impact for our employees and our neighbors.
LNG itself is not flammable at low temperature due to its high density. If LNG escapes unintentionally, this is harmless to the environment. In a short time it evaporates and is lost in the atmosphere, as it is lighter than air. For the same reason, it is guaranteed that the liquid will not enter the ground or mix with water. However, leaked LNG can be converted into natural gas by the heat input from the environment and thus form either a flame if ignited or an explosive atmosphere if vaporized for a longer period of time.
When operating the LNG terminal, our goal is to avoid any operational disruptions as well as accidents. This is achieved on the one hand by technical measures, such as the use of safe parts and components, permanently sealed pipelines, and a multi-fused, computer-aided process control and monitoring system. Furthermore, the high safety standard is also ensured by an appropriate internal organization.
In the event of an incident, Uniper has at its disposal the Vynova plant fire brigade, permanently installed fire protection equipment to limit incidents and, in addition, a fire-fighting tugboat for LNG handling. In addition, external emergency response forces (Wilhelmshaven Fire Department) are alerted.
All applicable requirements from laws and regulations, such as the Federal Immission Control Act, as well as the permit conditions are met at the LNG terminal located in Wilhelmshaven. This is verified and ensured through in-house routine checks (internal audits), regular governmental monitoring of these facilities, as well as by external monitoring institutions such as TÜV and other independent expert assessors.
Irrespective of all these precautions, all applicable requirements from laws and ordinances, e.g. the Federal Immission Control Act, as well as the permit conditions are fulfilled. This is checked and ensured both by the company's own routine checks (internal audits), by regular monitoring of these plants by the authorities, and by external monitoring institutions such as TÜV and other independent specialist experts.