Snam’s FSRU-based LNG import terminal in the Italian port of Piombino has received 19 liquefied natural gas cargoes since its launch last year, while Snam continues to progress work on the facility in Ravenna.
The 170,000-cbm Golar Tundra in Piombino received its first commercial shipment from Eni in July last year.
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.
According to Snam the capacity of this FSRU-based terminal is fully booked.
“The FSRU in Piombino has so far received 19 ships for a total of 1.7 bcm,” CEO Stefano Venier said during Snam’s 2023 earnings call on Thursday.
Besides this unit, Snam completed in December last year the purchase of BW LNG’s 2015-built FSRU BW Singapore for about $400 million.
The FSRU will be located off the coast of Ravenna, around 8 kilometers away from the Punta Marina area.
Snam said that onshore and offshore works have started and expects this unit to start operations in 2025.
Venier said during the call that Snam expects to complete these works by the end of this year.
Snam also plans to launch an auction for regasification capacity in “coming weeks”.
Regas volumes up
According to Snam, volumes regasified in 2023 amounted to 3.69 billion cubic meters, a rise of 64.7 percent compared to 2022, while 62 tankers were unloaded, compared to 59 tankers in 2022.
“The increase in the volume of LNG regasified and a consequent increase in the number of tanker loads unloaded was due to the impact of the war between Russia and Ukraine on the gas market, which drove an increase in the demand for LNG to meet domestic demand,” the firm said.
Snam said the higher volumes also reflect the effects of the entry into operation of the Piombino FSRU, which in the second half of 2023 regasified a total of 1.12 bcm.