Lucy Hine
Mediterranean wannabe gas importer Cyprus has returned to the idea of using a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) some 10 years after an earlier tender was scrapped.
Cyprus’ Natural Gas Public Co (Defa) has been granted government approval to buy LNG to provide gas to power stations controlled by the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC).
Under the new proposal, LNG would be shipped into an FSRU moored off Vasilikos on the country’s central southern coastline.
Shipowners working in the floating regas sector say a formal tender for a unit has yet to be launched but they expect one for a unit and LNG supply to emerge shortly.
At the end of last year, Defa employed consultants Gaffney Cline & Associates to evaluate plans to import LNG.
It was the latest in a series of efforts to supply gas to the island’s power generators.
In 2008, Cyprus cancelled plans for an offshore floating LNG import terminal, opting instead for an onshore facility, only to change its mind a year later when the EAC pushed out a tender for an FSRU.
In the interim years, the country’s efforts have been interrupted by gas discoveries off its coastline and the prospect of domestic pipeline gas supply.
But market players say that since these earlier efforts, FSRUs have become more accepted and available as a viable import solution.
In addition, they add that Cyprus could serve as something of an LNG hub for the eastern Mediterranean region.
