MADRID, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Enagas has awarded 2,231 slots, about half of total capacity, for ships to offload liquefied natural gas (LNG) at six Spanish terminals over the next 15 years, according to data provided by the company to Reuters.

Spain is a key European hub for LNG imports, thanks to its large fleet of regasification terminals.

Spanish plants had almost a third of Europe's LNG in storage as of January 14, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe.

Enagas said the slots awarded represent almost 100% of the slots it has offered so far.

The company last auctioned slots in July 2023, when it said it received an average of four bids for each slot offered.

The remaining capacity will be awarded in future auctions.

Enagás noted that 588 slots were also reserved to allow smaller vessels to load LNG stored at the terminals.

The data do not include the El Musel plant, which began operating last summer under a special regime, under which it provides gas loading, storage and reloading services, but does not supply gas to the Spanish grid.

Energy company Endesa was awarded a contract to use it to offload, store and reload LNG until 2026.

(Report by Pietro Lombardi; edited in Spanish by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)