Lithuania’s Klaipedos Nafta, the state-owned operator of the country’s first LNG import facility, has launched a tender seeking to buy a floating storage and regasification unit.
KN is currently leasing the 170,000-cbm FSRU Independence from Hoegh LNG under a ten-year deal that expires in 2024.
The FSRU serves the country’s first and only LNG import facility located in the Klaipeda port.
Under the new tender, KN aims to select “the most economically advantageous offer” for the FSRU in order to secure the long-term operation of the LNG facility.
The LNG terminal operator said it would compare offers from potential suppliers to the redemption (option) value of the FSRU Independence.
The procurement results would show “whether there are any better alternatives on the market than the option of the acquisition of Independence as it is provided in the FSRU lease, operations and maintenance agreement with Norwegian company Hoegh LNG.”
Moreover, Lithuania has to decide on the acquisition of the FSRU by December 2022, KN said.
“Even though the price of the FSRU is an important criterion in the selection process, the final decision will also depend on other important components: age and size of the suggested vessel, regasification capacity, expected operational costs, as well as certain technical solutions,” Darius Šilenskis, chief executive of KN, said.
“In other words, the company will evaluate not only the price, but also the FSRU life cycle costs, technological and market compliance, thus ensuring the criterion of economic efficiency and validity of the future selection,” he said.