April the 18th, 2023 - Additional Krk LNG terminal capacities will begin being put into use as of the year 2025 or 2026 following the recent conclusion of a contract with the Norwegians.
As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes, last year's project to increase the capacity of the Krk LNG terminal is finally starting to become concrete with the now concluded contract for the delivery of an additional gasification module, worth almost 23 million euros.
The contract signed in Omisalj by the president of LNG Hrvatska (Croatia) Hrvoje Krhen and the sales director of the Norwegian company Wartsila Gas Solutions, Kjell Ove Ulstein, will provide a new module, the installation of which will almost double the existing capacities of the Krk LNG terminal. With this additional module, the Krk LNG terminal's overall gasification capacities will rise to 700,000 cubic metres of gas, meaning that it will enable the delivery of 6.1 billion cubic metres annually.
The engagement of the Norwegian company Wartsila Gas Solutions is a continuation of Croatian-Norwegian cooperation because it is also the manufacturer of the existing gasification system on board LNG Hrvatska itself. The technology remains the same, which is why environmental impact studies aren't required, which will speed up the Krk LNG terminal capacity increase project.
The plan is that the production of the module will be completed in 22 months, and it should be installed in the summer of 2025, while additional capacities would be available at the beginning of the 2025/2026 gas year. When signing the contract, Minister of Economy Davor Filipovic emphasizsd that the gas network will be ready at the same time.
Plinacro is already working on the construction of an additional gas pipeline (Zlobin - Bosiljevo), and according to him, the works will start soon, and works on other sections and interconnections with neighbouring countries are also now expected. Filipovic pointed out that the government is also counting on co-financing from EU funds for all parts of this large project.
The President of the Plinacro Management Board, Ivica Arar, expects that the Zlobin - Bosiljevo gas pipeline should be completed in 2025. A construction permit has already been obtained for a new gas pipeline into neighbouring Slovenia, and an activity plan has just been agreed with the operator of the transport system in Slovenia.
Over the coming days, the sixtieth ship is expected to arrive in Omisalj since the Krk LNG terminal began operating, and in which more than 4.9 billion cubic metres of natural gas have been gasified and delivered to the network so far.
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