Offshore LNG Receiving Terminals: An Alternative To Onshore Terminal

It is no secret that new-built onshore LNG receiving terminals are hard to locate because of limited number of sites available, difficult application process and daunting safety constraints compounded by NIMBY reaction of the general public. In order to alleviate some of these difficulties, operators are therefore contemplating offshore LNG receiving terminals: concrete Gravity Base Structures (GBS) for shallow water areas and floating structures (FSRU) for deeper water depth. The first LNG GBS terminal is now under construction. Other projects are currently at engineering or bidding stage. Since the early 90's Saipem has been at the forefront of LNG GBS designs. The intent of this paper is to present some of the architectures that have been contemplated with their pros and cons. In particular, this paper assesses the impact of the various functions of an LNG terminal: storage tanks architectures (rectangular/cylindrical tanks), containment systems families; process and utilities support and arrangement; offloading operability. The FSRU is generally perceived to have a design similar to an LNG carrier, but this is only true for small projects such as the Livorno FSRU. The authors have developed the design basis and arrangement of large new-built FSRU based on typical deep water conditions, which stands as an alternate to an onshore terminal. This FSRU has a re-gasification peak capacity of 1,5 bcfd (~12 MTPA) and a storage volume of 320,000 m3. This paper details the characteristics of this FSRU