Natural gas storage infrastructure
Introduction
A Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (UFAR) is a liquefied natural gas regasification plant mounted on board a vessel that also has storage facilities for the same. In December 2021, 21 UFARes were operating in the world.[1].
History
The concept of UFAR dates back to 2005. The first UFAR was the result of a conversion, in a shipyard, of an LNG carrier:[2] the Golar Spirit, delivered in 2009 to Petrobras and used until 2016 in the port of Pecém, 50 kilometers from Fortaleza "Fortaleza (Brazil)").[3].
In 2014 Lithuania began operations of the UFAR Independence, named by the government, and whose purpose was to break the Russian monopoly on gas in the country's energy, created because the European Union forced Lithuania to close its nuclear reactors in Ignalina in 2009.[4][5].
In 2018, the implementation of UFAR plants on the southern coast of Puerto Rico and in El Salvador was being studied; In Jamaica, that same year a contract was signed to rent a UFAR for fifteen years to supply the Bogue power plant in Montego Bay.[6].
In Peru, in 2018, the installation of UFAR in the country's seaports was declared "of national interest",[7] by legislative decree No. 1413.[8].
In 2022 the Italian Minister of "Ecological Transition" announced the purchase of one UFAR and the rental of a second; The Canarian government was in the process of placing one in the port of Granadilla.[9] In total, the EU planned to build 19 UFARes that year.[10].
[13] Lubmin.[15].
References
- [1] ↑ «What is an FSRU?». Natural Gas Intelligence (en inglés). Consultado el 26 de febrero de 2023. «as of December 2021, “in addition to the existing 21 projects in operation [globally] there are a further 13 FSRU projects under construction».: https://www.naturalgasintel.com/fsru/
- [2] ↑ Jens Norrgård (14 de mayo de 2018). «LNG terminals – land-based vs. floating storage and regasification technology». Wärtsilä (en inglés). Consultado el 26 de febrero de 2023. «(FSRUs) as a concept were developed in 2005, driven by the need for a fast delivery LNG storage and regasification solution. The first FSRU was not a new-built unit but a conversion of an existing LNG carrier (LNGC) by a shipyard».: https://www.wartsila.com/insights/article/lng-terminals-land-based-vs-floating-storage-and-regasification-technology
- [3] ↑ «Golar LNG Delivers World's First FSRU to Petrobras». Downstream Today. 30 de enero de 2009. Consultado el 31 de enero de 2009.: http://www.downstreamtoday.com/news/article.aspx?a_id=14924
- [4] ↑ James Kanter (4 de julio de 2013). «At Anchor Off Lithuania, Its Own Energy Supply». The New York Times (en inglés). Consultado el 26 de febrero de 2023. «as a condition of joining the union in 2004 [...] Ignalina. The plant closed in 2009, and now Lithuania is more reliant than ever on natural gas — and Gazprom — [...] a floating gas storage and regasification unit».: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/business/energy-environment/lithuania-aims-for-energy-independence.html?_r=0
- [5] ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140330023150/http://www.lrp.lt/en/press_center/press_releases/gas_terminal_will_serve_to_strengthen_lithuanias_energy_independence.html.