Shell and government of Gibraltar sign LNG supply agreement
Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar and Shell have signed an agreement for the supply of LNG for use in power generation in Gibraltar.
This agreement includes the construction of a small regasification unit that will receive, store and re-gasify the LNG arriving by ship for use in Gibraltar’s adjacent gas-fired power plant, which is already under construction.
The regasification unit will be operated by Gasnor, a 100% Shell-owned subsidiary with over ten years of operational experience in LNG for marine and small-scale LNG in North Western Europe. The LNG will be stored before being warmed up to its original gaseous state and then piped to the power plant. The unit will also include a berth for a small LNG carrier that will supply the LNG at night, minimizing disruption to the neighboring port, airport and housing estates. There is also potential for LNG bunkering operations in the future, following the appropriate environmental assessments and safeguards.
Following the recent approval of a robust Environmental Impact Assessment report, construction of the regasification unit is planned to start towards the end of 2016 with commissioning and first delivery of LNG expected to take place ahead of the start-up of the power plant, expected during the second half of 2017.
The regasification unit’s five double wall stainless steel tanks will have a capacity of 1000 m³ each. The LNG will be warmed to a gaseous state in a controlled way by using the heat from the power plant’s cooling system, responding to the power plant’s demands.
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