Snam’s Ravenna FSRU ready to start operations

Snam said on Friday the 2015-built FSRU completed its mooring manoeuvre about 8 kilometres offshore Ravenna.

Last month, the FSRU left the Fincantieri shipyard in Palermo.

Prior to arriving in Ravenna, the FSRU completed gassing and cooling operations at the Enagas-operated LNG terminal in Cartagena, Spain.

The vessel is moored at the former Petra offshore platform. The platform’s existing infrastructure – formerly used to dock oil tankers – has recently been repurposed in order to accommodate the regasification vessel.

“In the past few days, a tender call was published to identify the party that will deliver the first LNG cargo to the BW Singapore for commissioning activities, which consist of the FSRU regasification plant operational tests and set-up,” Snam said.

The cargo, scheduled to be delivered in March, will also provide the minimum level of liquefied gas in the terminal’s tanks, as required to ensure its full operation, the firm said.

After the commissioning phase, the Ravenna FSRU-based terminal with a capacity of 5 bcm will enter into service by April, according to Snam.

“With the ship docking in Ravenna perfectly on schedule, Italy can rely on a new strategic asset, which, combined with the Italis LNG moored in Piombino, is another fundamental step towards supply diversification and the country’s energy security,” Stefano Venier, CEO of Snam said.

“Ravenna is an ideal port of call, not only because it hosts on its territory a high-skilled, leading energy district, but also because of its strategic position attracting gas flows from the eastern Mediterranean area and beyond,” he said.

Two FSRUs

In December 2023, Snam completed the purchase of BW LNG’s 2015-built FSRU BW Singapore for about $400 million.

With the commissioning of BW Singapore, Italy’s total regasification capacity will rise to 28 billion cubic meters, equivalent to the volumes imported by pipeline from Russia in 2021, before the Russian-Ukrainian war, according to Snam.

Snam’s other FSRU-based LNG import terminal in the Italian port of Piombino received its 50th cargo in December since its launch in 2023.

The 170,000-cbm FSRU, Italis LNG, previously known as Golar Tundra, received its first commercial shipment from Eni in July 2023.

Eni booked regasification capacity at the FSRU-based facility as part of its strategy to diversify LNG supplies to Italy through its internationally produced equity gas.

In April, the unit received its first LNG cargo from Eni’s Congo FLNG project.

In addition to these two FSRU-based terminals, Snam holds significant stakes in all the regulated LNG regasification terminals currently operating in Italy, including the Panigaglia terminal, the Adriatic LNG terminal, and the OLT FSRU Toscana terminal.