LNG Croatia Moves to Prepare for Adriatic Terminal
By mid-February, LNG Croatia will choose the winning consultant for legal, business and financial affairs in the preparation of studies for the project of construction of a liquefied gas terminal on the island Krk in the Adriatic Sea.
In the international tender worth 1.864 million has attracted bidders including Ernst & Young, AT Kearney, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, a group of bidders led by the Hungarian representative office of the Boston Consulting and Zagreb based Energy Institute Hrvoje Pozar according to media reports.
For this contract, eligible companies should have experience in projects in the energy sector worth more than €100 million.
The selected contractor, during the 560 days, have to develop a business and legal model for construction of the terminal, tender documents and selection of strategic and financial investors, obtain approvals, to advise in the selection of service providers using the terminal and make a contract for the services of using the terminal.
LNG terminal project is implemented by the company 'LNG Croatia' jointly owned by Croatian Electricity Company (HEP) and Plinacro, company for gas infrastructure, both state-owned. The project is worth 680 million EUR.
The project has been in the works since 2010, but now has additional focus after halt of the South Stream pipeline and is receiving strong support from Brussel.
'Regardless of the South Stream we went to prepare the LNG project on Krk. We hope that, when we finish documentation, will obtaine a grant from the EU. Now is the turn of a vote and adoption of the location permit. The Commission will prepare and submit all documentation to the end of this year," said Economy Minister Ivan Vrdoljak after the announcement of the international tender.
Vrdoljak believes that Croatia will get 300 million Euro grant from the European Union for the project, with the rest of the financing to be obtained from buyers of gas that will be a partner in the project.
In November 2014, The European Commission allocated EUR 4.9 million to fund 50 percent of the cost of the studies: legal and financial consulting; FEED; Main project; tender documents for the EPC and documentation for the power system.
These are activities that contribute to the projects of common interest of the Instrument for connecting Europe (CEF - Connecting Europe Facility) in the field of trans-European energy infrastructure.
LNG terminal on the island of Krk is planned as continental type terminal with tanks and evaporators. The planned capacity is 4-6 billion m³ of natural gas per year, the capacity of the tank 2 x 180,000 m³ capacity and LNG carriers 75,000-265,000 m³.
Construction of this facility in the Adriatic Sea should increase the diversification and security of natural gas supply, offer environmentally friendly source of energy in the region, contribute to reducing CO₂ emissions and encourage economic development, said the company LNG Croatia on its website.
Kruno Kartus