[ad_1]
Energy storage and infrastructure firm VTTI B.V. and Germany-based asset manager IKAV have formed a consortium to acquire majority ownership of Terminale GNL Adriatico Srl, also known as Adriatic LNG, which operates a regasification terminal located 9.3 miles (15 kilometers) off the coastline of the Veneto region in Italy.
The consortium aims to ensure seamless operations and continuous support to Adriatic LNG, enhancing security of energy supply in Italy, VTTI said in a news release. The closing of the transaction is expected in the second half.
The Adriatic LNG terminal has a technical regasification capacity of 339 billion cubic feet (9.6 billion cubic meters) of natural gas per year, which is equal to half of Italy’s current liquefied natural gas (LNG) import capacity. The terminal supplies approximately 14 percent of the country’s national consumption of natural gas.
According to the release, VTTI brings operational knowledge of energy terminals and infrastructure, while IKAV contributes existing in-depth experience in the Italian energy market, as well as a long-term track record in managing and operating both renewable and conventional assets.
In 2023, Adriatic LNG said it delivered 300 billion cubic feet (8.5 billion cubic meters) of natural gas into the national pipeline network, which is an increase of seven percent year over year. Total LNG imports to Italy totaled 586.2 billion cubic feet (16.6 billion cubic meters for the year), which was a 16.8 percent increase compared to 2022.
Alfredo Balena, Director of External Relations at Adriatic LNG, said in a statement, “In 2023, our terminal [was] confirmed to be a strategic energy infrastructure for Italy and Europe. Simplifying, we can say that the 8.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas injected by Adriatic LNG into the national grid represent an energy quantity equivalent to approximately 93 million megawatt-hours, equivalent to the total energy consumed by [the] Veneto and Lombardy regions for a year”.
Adriatic LNG received 75 LNG carriers in 2023, mainly from Qatar and the USA. The terminal also received LNG from Mozambique for the first time. According to the statement Adriatic LNG is the main Italian regasification terminal and the only one able to receive LNG carriers of up to 217,000 liquid cubic meters, or super large-scale LNG vessels.
“The security of energy supplies in Europe and Italy is and will increasingly be based on LNG,” Balena said. “The significant growth in LNG imports occurring over the last two years is linked to efforts being made to reduce dependence, and increase resilience, of the European gas system. These efforts are driving Italy and Europe to maximize the use of existing LNG infrastructure and, in many cases, add new LNG import capacity”.
“For this reason, we have submitted a request to authorize a project to increase the regasification capacity of our terminal by 0.5 billion cubic meters per year,” he continued. “This new capacity, which could be available starting from 2026, has already been allocated for the next 20 years if the authorization process concludes positively”.
Netherlands-based VTTI describes itself as a global leader in independent energy storage and a developer of critical energy infrastructure needed to move towards a carbon neutral future. The company is owned by Vitol, IFM Investors, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).
IKAV is an international asset management group established in 2010. It provides institutional investors with investment solutions spanning a broad range of infrastructure energy assets, including solar, concentrated solar power, wind, energy efficiency, geothermal, thermal power plants, and upstream.
To contact the author, email rocky.teodoro@rigzone.com
[ad_2]
Source link