Uniper: Hoegh Esperanza LNG vessel to arrive in Wilhelmshaven on Dec. 15

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Uniper on Thursday said that Hoegh Esperanza, the first floating vessel allowed to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) into Germany, will reach its destination in the port of Wilhelmshaven in the course of the afternoon.

The so-called Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) carries around 165,000 cubic metres of LNG, enough to supply up to 80,000 German households for a year, Uniper said. The FSRU will be officially opened on Dec. 17.

Going forward, the FSRU will regasify delivered LNG volumes to feed at least 5 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year into Germany's grid, equal to around 6% of the country's gas demand, it added.

"There is still a lot to do before the first gas can flow in a few days. Nevertheless, after ten months of intensive work, it is a great moment to see the Hoegh Esperanza dock here," Holger Kreetz, COO Asset Management Uniper, said in a statement.

The FSRU, chartered by the German government, is part of Berlin's efforts to replace Russian natural gas volumes, which came to a complete halt at the end of the summer.

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Madeline Chambers)