(Finance) – Italis LNG and no more Golar Tundra. This is the new name – approved by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport – of Snam regasification vessel operational since July 2023 in the Tuscan port of Piombino, which with the registration in the Italian naval register also flies the tricolor flag in place of the previous one, belonging to the Marshall Islands. Following the sending of a formal request to the Port Authority of Livorno, the FSRU Italia company of Snam has successfully completed the process of registration of the regasification vessel in the Italian naval register with the aim of adapting the ship to the technical requirements of the national regulation.
“The inclusion of the Piombino regasification vessel in the Italian naval register is another important step for our FSRU, which we are particularly pleased about. The Italis LNG, in just under a year of operation, has received 29 cargoes of liquefied natural gas , coming from five different countries, for a total of 2.6 billion cubic meters of gas injected into the national network, to further guarantee the security and diversification of energy sources for our country”, he stated Stefano Venier, CEO of Snam.
With 23 billion cubic meters of regasification capacity, LNG – Snam said in a note – today provides a fundamental contribution to the safety of the Italian gas system. LNG, in fact, has come to cover a quarter of national gas supplies, and in the first two months of 2024, it has surpassed the main entry point via pipeline, namely Mazara del Vallo, where the gas arriving from Algeria comes from . The FSRUs, allowing the receipt of LNG from various supplier countries, therefore represent a fundamental asset for guaranteeing flexibility to the entire energy system of the country.
As part of the initiatives undertaken starting from 2022 to further diversify the country’s gas supplies following the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, in addition to Italis LNG, Snam has also acquired the floating regasification terminal BW Singapore, which will enter into operation off the coast of Ravenna in the first months of 2025. The The country’s overall regasification capacity will thus rise to 28 billion cubic metersequally distributed between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic sides, for a total volume that corresponds to that imported via gas pipeline from Russia in 2021.