Greece’s first floating storage and regasification unit is due to arrive at its new home in the Port of Alexandroupolis on 17 December.
Gastrade managing director Kostis Sifnaios told delegates at the World LNG Summit & Awards in Athens that the 155,000-cbm FSRU Alexandroupolis (built 2010) left Singapore on Sunday following its conversion from an LNG carrier.
Sifnaios said the company, which owns the FSRU, started the project 14 years ago when FSRUs were unknown in Greece.
Motor Oil Hellas natural gas unit director Nikos Satras told TradeWinds that the company plans to take a final investment decision in December or January on its planned Dioriga FSRU project for Greece.
He said the company has already earmarked a vessel that it plans to acquire and convert for the project but declined to give any details about it prior to the FID.
Snam director of FSRU operations Carlo Mangia said the company is due to bring the FSRU planned for Ravenna on Italy’s east coast in early 2025.
He said the vessel procured for the job — Snam paid $400m for the 170,000-cbm FSRU BW Singapore (built 2015) — will leave Egypt and head to Dubai for shipyard works.
Mangia said the vessel is scheduled to be redeployed to Ravenna in the fourth quarter of 2024 and be ready to start commercial operations early in the following year.
He said an existing jetty close to the grid connection was identified for the project and is being upgraded
Mangia gave an insight into the Piombino FSRU, the 170,000-cbm Golar Tundra (built 2015), which started commercial operations in July 2023.
He revealed that the facility is expected to have taken in 12 LNG cargoes by the end of this year and is fully booked through 2024.
Mangia said the regas terminal became operational within just one year after the company had been appointed by the Italian government to implement it.
One of the key issues was resistance from the locals,” he said, adding: “It is not behind us yet.”
Mangia said Snam is continuing to work on revitalising an FSRU-based import terminal for Sardinia, although he admitted it had slowed down a bit.
Bulgartransgaz chief executive Vladimir Malinov said his company is seriously considering investing in another FSRU project in Greece.
He mentioned this could be a stake in the second FSRU proposed for the Port of Alexandroupolis or a partnership in another regas vessel in Greece.
