A purpose-built barge-based LNG floating regasification unit (FRU) has left China’s Jiangnan Shipyard en route for a new start-up import project in Ghana.
The FRU Torman will be shipped to West Africa on a heavylift vessel.
The unit, which also offers 28,000-cbm of storage, is now owned by Access LNG, a joint venture between Africa-focused private investment company Helios Investment Partners and Gasfin Development.
The Torman will be operated in conjunction with an LNG carrier working as a floating storage unit (FSU). The 127,705-cbm LNG Flora (built 1993) is currently undergoing conversion in Singapore to serve as the FSU.
Access said it expects both units to be operational off Tema during the first quarter of 2021.
“Delivering the floating infrastructure for the LNG facility at Tema is the first project for the joint venture,” Access said.
The partners said they are now working on opportunities to commercialise LNG infrastructure across Africa.
Right sizing
Gasfin said it has been promoting the “virtues of right sizing LNG infrastructure” for more than a decade.
The FRU has been designed to run at peak loads of up to three million tonnes per annum and very low send outs.
Gasfin described the delivery of the FRU as a “new milestone” and said these units provide flexible and cost-efficient tools to open new markets.
Tema LNG Terminal Co is shipping in LNG for Ghana to allow thermal power generators to shift over to burn natural gas.
Gasfin claims that, in Ghana, the FRU — operated in conjunction with the FSU — will provide the same functionality as an LNG terminal or floating storage and regasification unit but at a lower cost and with more flexible operating parameters.
The company said the FRU can also be operated without an FSU, either as a stand-alone terminal served by small-scale LNG carriers, or where the unit is used for intermittent access to a large gas market through extended discharge from conventional-sized LNG carriers.
Gasfin added that the Torman is also equipped to bunker ships with LNG or send product ashore.
Gasfin director Roland Fisher said: “The FRU is a truly innovative approach to securing a flexible, reliable and cost-efficient gas supply for Ghana.
“The abundance of cheap LNG provides an excellent incentive for liquid fuel consumers to switch to gas and our job is to ensure that switch can be positive both environmentally and economically.”
