Adriatic LNG, the operator of the largest of three Italian regasification terminals, said it was ready to offer more capacity to Italy and Europe with an increase from 8 billion cubic metres per annum to 9 Bcm per annum.
The terminal is located 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) off the Veneto coastline and is a gravity-based structure.
The Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition, with Decree 4 of March 15, 2022, verified the facility’s compliance with the environmental pre-operating conditions of a new decree.
The terminal has been on line since autumn 2009 and is a private operator. It is co-controlled by ExxonMobil Italiana Gas and Qatar Terminal Ltd, a subsidiary of QatarEnergy, while Italian gas network operator SNAM has a 7.3 percent shareholding.
It has so far handled more than 800 cargoes at its offshore base. The terminal includes two LNG storage tanks, each with a capacity of 125,000 cubic metres.
“The Adriatic LNG terminal is a unique case in the panorama of Italian and European regasification terminals, as it has for years boasted the highest average utilization rate. It was 92 percent in 2021 against a monthly average at European level of between 29 percent and 40 percent,” said the company.
Private resources
“In addition, the infrastructure was built and is managed with private resources without, therefore, any financial burden on the gas system and without constituting a cost in the bill for citizens,” it added.
By increasing its regasification capacity, Adriatic LNG will be able to make a greater contribution to meeting the country's natural gas needs as it will be able to cover around 12 percent of annual Italian consumption.
“We have reached an important milestone at a critical time for our country's energy security,” said Alfredo Balena, Director of Public of Government Affairs at Adriatic LNG.
“Increasing the capacity of our terminal represents for Italy and also for Europe a tangible way to increase and diversify LNG imports,” added Balena.
Adriatic LNG is capable of receiving almost all classes of LNG carriers, with a capacity ranging from 65,000 cubic metres up to 217,000 cubic metres capacity.
The increase in regasification capacity at the Adriatic terminal will be achieved through the optimisation of the operating conditions of the infrastructure, without any structural changes to the current configuration.
The eight supplying countries so far to the Adriatic facility have been Qatar, Angola, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago, Equatorial Guinea, Norway, Nigeria and the US.
