[Premium] New Technology Speeds Up LNG Transfer Ashore: Exclusive
Norwegian firm Connect LNG and Gas Natural Fenosa have successfully used pioneering, 'plug and play' technology, Universal Transfer System (UTS), to deliver LNG ashore in an operation carried out in Norway on October 7.
During the successful sea launch of the first full-scale and market-ready UTS, Connect LNG and Gas Natural Fenosa carried out a "complete operation including transfer of LNG from Skangas’ LNG carrier Coral Energy to the onshore LNG terminal at Heroya," they said in a joint statement.
The design and fabrication of the UTS involved the highest safety standards, and the complete system has undergone an extensive classification process by DNV GL.
Connect LNG’s CEO Morten Christophersen told NGW in an email on October 10 that this was the first public announcement about its collaboration with Gas Natural Fenosa and about the project itself.
The time from the finalisation of the detailed design to the successful hook-up of the terminal took less than six months and it was installed at the Heroya terminal one day after its arrival from the dockyard, which "exemplifies the rapid deployment ability of the solution," they said, describing UTS as "a game changing floating solution for LNG transfer between ship and shore that replaces the need for cost and environmental intensive harbour and jetty structures. This solution allows for rapid expansion of the value chain and transfer of LNG at locations where it was previously not possible due to environmental and economic constraints."
The UTS consists of a platform that can connect to any LNG carrier, which requires no modification, allowing the LNG to be transferred to the onshore terminal through floating flexible pipes. Gas Natural Fenosa, in collaboration with Connect LNG, is putting a system in the market that will enable a rapid expansion of the LNG value chain to allow end users access to cheaper and cleaner energy.
They described the UTS as an enabler for power generation in emerging markets. “We started an innovation journey and here we are today with a game-changing solution that is revolutionary for the LNG industry. From now on, we have a market-ready system that opens a world of possibilities in the LNG small scale business,” Gas Natural Fenosa said.
UTS in action
(Credit: Connect LNG/Gas Natural Fenosa)
“With Connect LNG’s disruptive technology and agile company culture, combined with Gas Natural Fenosa’s long and strong track record in the energy market, there was an obvious foundation for collaboration and leveraging both companies’ strengths as a basis for enabling access to natural gas where today it is not economically viable,” Connect LNG said.
Connect LNG was established on the belief that cleaner and cheaper energy should be accessible world-wide. Based on decades of Norwegian experience with LNG and maritime technology, Connect LNG developed a cost-effective and flexible LNG transfer system to make this mission a reality, it said.
William Powell