In response to the war in Ukraine, European governments took swift and decisive action to reduce their dependence on Russian gas and diversify their sources of supply. One of the key strategies was to launch projects to set up maritime liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals in the shortest possible time. These terminals allow receiving liquified natural gas by ship. Then it is regasified for distribution and use through floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs).
For this reason, FSRU has a principal role due to its mobile conception. They can give a quick and cheap response to the demand for gas without the necessity of a complex infrastructure on land. In many cases, existing port infrastructure is used to comply with deadline reduction, which should be verified to admit the permanent mooring under extreme conditions of an exceptional vessel or the STS transfer operation between two vessels.
Siport21 has carried out and is carrying out studies for several of these projects to provide the necessary information for both the infrastructure and equipment designers and the operators. Thanks to its team of experts, the company provides information on the required indicators in terms of berthing and mooring equipment loads, operation and permanence limits, and other necessary data for the designers of the industrial unloading equipment. All this allows the design and operation of the terminal under demanding quality and safety standards characteristic of this industry, through detailed compatibility and dynamic mooring studies, among others.
An example is the geometrical compatibility analyses performed for the FSRU Exemplar at two LNG terminals located in the Gulf of Finland (Inkoo Terminal (Finland) and Paldiski Terminal (Estonia)). Both studies were aimed at assessing the most suitable mooring configuration for the FSRU and the LNG carriers, the available berthing and mooring equipment, the suitability of the loading arm, and availability to verify the feasibility of installing the FSRU at these terminals.
In the case of Germany, while the country is making progress in the construction of its natural gas import infrastructure, it is chartering floating units in the short term. It currently has three floating terminals in operation (Wilhelmshaven, Lubmin, and Brunsbüttel) and is planning another four before the end of 2023. Siport21 has developed the analysis of hydrometeorological conditions and several dynamic studies of the moored vessel at the Brunsbüttel terminal on the river Elbe. The objective was to identify all those elements of the existing old quay requiring to be upgraded in record time (installation of new fenders and bollards) so that the FSRU Hoegh Gannet could operate as soon as possible. In the meantime, the project is being drafted and the construction works for the new LNG Elbehafen terminal in the vicinity of this quay are being executed, for which moored ship studies are also being carried out to validate the designs and equipment foreseen by the designer.
Siport21 was involved in the start-up of the first LNG Terminal with an FSRU worldwide in Bahia Blanca (Argentina, 2008) and has currently worked on 78 LNG Terminals, 41 based on FSRU technology.
