This is my proposal for a rethink of the selection of one of three options to supply natural gas to the proposed 200MW power plant at Delimara.

First of all, accelerate and concentrate on the 200MW interconnector and purchase relatively cheap natural gas power from the spot market, in particular from Holland where substantial excess supply exists. This will ease the pressure on the new Delimara plant programme and, at the same time, close down the old and uneconomical Marsa plant.

As a second step, enter into serious negotiations with some party, like ENI, for a long-term natural gas supply for the new 200MW Delimara power station on the basis of a gas pipeline to be laid, owned and operated by ENI.

For comparison purposes, the client should conduct fully-fledged complete EIAs for the new 200MW, LNG-fired power plant. These should take all relevant aspects on board including those related to other port operators, navigational aspects, possible capital dredging works for an approach channel, turning bay and, possibly, for the berthing area and, above all, those related to the nearby townships, before a definitive plant and supply system design – of which many examples exist all over the world - could be proposed.

Approvals, modifications and final approved design followed by long lead items – such as design and procurement, construction, installation and all-inclusive final plant commissioning – would take well over two years.

 

If realistic, unavoidable commitments have been made for the purchase of a floating storage unit and this FSU could not be sold as is one should commence immediately with the design and construction of an FSU-based re-gasification plant on the bows of this vessel as was done with the Toscana, which is now in operation moored on a single buoy, 34 kilometres offshore of Livorno, Tuscany.

Sell the floating storage and re-gasification unit and conclude a lease-back deal for a few years until the ENI pipeline is commissioned and will take over the supply of compressed natural gas. There are many examples of this happening.

By now, multiple arguments against the FSU option have been made and debated and it appears that the FSRU solution prevails. There are a number of FSRU examples around the world in operation. An international conference focusing on the design, construction and operations of FSRUs in different locations worldwide was held in Dubai in mid-February.

A permanent pipeline will be the most economical solution due to its very low operational and maintenance costs

The conference papers show 11 active FSRUs and 40 units on order for a number of countries including Indonesia, India, Kuwait and Lebanon.

From an economical point of view the following cost/benefit analyses should be made and studied in depth.

The FSRU and the SBM (single buoy mooring) solutions are mobile assets that can be purchased, sold, rented or leased in a very rapidly growing global FSRU market. The FSRU is therefore a very cost effective temporary solution for the supply of gas to the 200MW plant until a permanent gas supply through a pipeline connection with Sicily has been commissioned.

Whatever solution, FSU or FSRU, is selected the actual financial and operational costs will affect the total expenditure on the 200MW output substantially because a 200MW plant is a relatively small power station.

In the long term, the lifetime of a compressed natural gas-fired plant is well in excess of 20 years; there are even contracts for up to 30 years.

The permanent pipeline will be the most economical solution due to its very low operational and maintenance costs coupled with very low environmental impact, low risk as well as a high degree of safety. For example, Italy imports its gas via pipeline from North Africa and not by ship.

If the pipeline import option is selected in the long term, the existing option for an FSU with bridge-connected regasification plant onshore, complete with permanent new wharf platform with mooring dolphins and additional breakwater as required, including their associated exorbitant insurance premiums, will be cancelled because these structures will become obsolete, resulting in a big financial loss.

In that case, the option for a temporary offshore FSRU should be selected, unless the commissioning of the power plant will be synchronised with the commissioning of the pipeline , which , in my opinion, is the best solution all around.

In early 2013, it was already reported that an ENI study concluded that of all options to supply LNG/CNG for the new 200MW power plant, the 153-kilometre-long CNG pipeline from Gela (Sicily) to Delimara, at a cost of €200 million and buildable in 18 months’ time, following study and permits, was by far the best option.

Kees de Jong is a civil and industrial engineer.

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