Europe snaps up FSRUs to speed energy security

摘要

How does Europe spell 'energy security'? F-S-R-U. Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in February and the pivot away from Russian natural gas, at least 21 new or accelerated LNG import projects have been announced by EU countries, more than half supported by floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), according to financial advisory group FTI Consulting. In one of the latest moves to secure energy security in Europe, Italy's Snam will acquire the 2015-built FSRU BW Singapore from BW LNG in a US$400M deal. With about 40% of its natural gas imports coming from Russia last year, Italy is the second biggest European importer of Russian volumes, after Germany. The deal announced in early July will see Snam add its second FSRU for new LNG import terminal capacity. BW Singapore has a maximum storage capacity of 170,000 m3, and a nominal continuous regasification capacity of about 5 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year. BW Singapore, which is currently bound by a charter agreement with a third party until November 2023, is expected to be installed in the upper Adriatic Sea, close to the coast of Ravenna. Operations are scheduled to start in Q3 2024, following completion of the authorisation and regulatory process as well as the finalisation of the works required for mooring and connection to the gas transport network.