SNAM, the Italian gas gid operator and liquefied natural gas import terminals owner, said it was moving forward on plans for a fifth LNG regasification facility at the Adriatic port of Ravenna.
SNAM has already started the construction of the associated facilities for the new Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) to be deployed at Ravenna.
A meeting in Ravenna involving SNAM Chief Executive Stefano Venier, the utility’s Chief Operating Officer Massimo Derchi as well as the Mayor of Ravenna, Michele de Pascale, as part of a public conference outlined progress on bringing the FSRU “BW Singapore” to Ravenna.
The FSRU is the second purchased by SNAM to improve Italy’s energy security and will be operational by the end of 2024.
The ship will provide the country with an additional 5 billion cubic metres of gas, in addition to those already supplied by the FSRU “Golar Tundra” which has been operational on Italy’s West Coast port of Piombino in Tuscany since July 2023.
Municipal benefits
SNAM said that Ravenna would also benefit from hosting the FSRU and helping with Italy’s energy security by having backing for town and regional projects.
“These works will enable the Municipality to carry out significant interventions in various areas, from urban regeneration to sustainable mobility, from reforestation to energy saving with a total commitment of €10 million (€10.7M),” said SNAM.
“At the peak of activities, more than 1,200 people will be employed, involving over 100 suppliers from the province of Ravenna and the Emilia Romagna Region, with contracts assigned to local companies in the Ravenna area amounting to over €300 million ($320M),” the company added.
“During the Ravenna conference, SNAM also provided an update on progress of the works for the first carbon-capture and storage (CCS) project, which will make the Ravenna hub one of the world's largest sites for CO₂ storage and the largest in the Mediterranean,” the company added.
Built in 2015, the “BW Singapore” will be able to store 170,000 cubic metres of LNG, regasify it then have it transferred into a new pipeline connected to the connection point with the National Gas Pipeline Network located around 42 kilometres (26 miles) from the FSRU mooring point.
Bunkering
Ravenna is already the location of a small-scale LNG bunkering station established under the European Union's clean fuel policies.
Spanish LNG terminals and gas grid operator Enagás and Italian utility company Edison are among the shareholders in the small-scale facility serving the LNG trucking and ship bunkering sectors.
In addition to the Piombino FSRU terminal on the west Coast, SNAM already operates the onshore Panigaglia LNG facility on the northwest coast near Genoa and which has been in service since 1969.
The grid operator also has a controlling stake in the “FSRU Toscana” moored off the West Coast Italian port of Livorno.
The new FSRU facility at Ravenna will be in the same area as the Adriatic LNG terminal
Adriatic LNG terminal is majority-owned by US major ExxonMobil and with QatarEnergy also a shareholder.
The Adriatic terminal is a gravity-based structure located 15 km (9.3 miles) off the Veneto coastline and SNAM is a 7.3 percent shareholder in the facility.
