OLT's FSRU will supply LNG for bunkering in Italy

OLT Offshore LNG Toscana’s (OLT) new floating storage and regasification barge will allow operators to load LNG onto bunker barges for use in marine bunkering.

IMAGE: LNG transfer between Avenir Aspiration and OLT Offshore LNG Toscana’s FSRU. OLT

Bunker supplier Axpo LNG trialled the pilot LNG transfer using its chartered bunker barge Avenir Aspiration. The test involved a “bidirectional transfer” of LNG between Avenir Aspiration and the terminal and back.

An FSRU typically regasifies imported LNG for pipeline supply, but it can also reload LNG in liquid form onto smaller vessels. This is particularly useful for small-scale users looking to transport LNG in liquid form for bunkering or supply to remote industries.

According to OLT, small-scale users can load LNG onto small LNG carriers either by linking it to their own large LNG deliveries in their monthly schedules, or by purchasing LNG from other users unloading a large LNG carrier that month.

This setup benefits LNG suppliers who prefer not to inject their entire cargo into the gas grid.

Instead, they can use the FSRU as a storage and transfer hub to split the cargo and re-export or deliver it as liquid LNG using smaller vessels for more flexible or last-mile delivery.

In addition, the FSRU can receive LNG from small-scale carriers, regasify it and inject it into the grid. This process can also support the blending of liquefied biomethane (LBM) with LNG, typically through a mass-balance method.

The FSRU, located off the coast of Livorno Province, Italy, could serve as a “strategic hub for the development of maritime bunkering” in the Mediterranean Sulphur Emission Control Area, OLT said.

By Konica Bhatt

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