Snam completes mooring deck installation at Ravenna regasification terminal

Completion of the infrastructural work needed to accommodate the BW Singapore FSRU in the Ravenna offshore area is substantially on schedule, and the terminal will be in Italian waters by the end of 2024, and will be operational within 1Q25. Once in service, it will provide the country with an additional regasification capacity of 5 billion m³/y, thus reaching 40% of the nation's total gas demand, in line with the diversification targets set two years ago during the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.

“We have reached yet another important milestone, in this complex operation that will help us meet the deadlines set for this infrastructure, and a key element to consolidate national and European energy security targets, also considering the progressive evolution of gas flows,” commented Snam CEO, Stefano Venier. “LNG now covers a quarter of the national gas supply, and with the commissioning of BW Singapore, we will have volumes equal to what Italy was receiving from Russia in 2021, allowing for a further diversification of the system.”

The deck covers a 54 x 48 m surface, weighs 2800 t, and houses the structures necessary to control the flow of gas coming from the regasification terminal and to direct it towards land. The installation, carried out according to strict environmental sustainability criteria, took place in two phases – the first in October and the second in mid-November – with the employment of highly specialised personnel.

Now, a new phase begins until the end of the year, involving the installation of the last functional connection elements between the various portions of the deck, and the final welds connecting the steel pipe section running on the deck, with the underwater section. The latter has already been laid down and connected with the portion built on the ground leading to the so-called Ravenna 'Node', the gas access point of the National Transmission Grid.

“Completion of the deck represented a major engineering challenge, which took place offshore, and for which we adopted every possible measure to ensure that the project would be fully sustainable from an environmental standpoint,” commented Snam Chief Operations Officer, Massimo Derchi. “This operation has been made possible thanks to the collaboration between Snam and leading national and local entities, such as Micoperi, Rosetti Marino and Saipem; in Ravenna, we have found fertile ground thanks to a sector of excellence that has never stopped growing over the years.”

Particular attention was and is paid to the environmental monitoring required under the Single Authorisation, both on land and at sea: more than 20 specialised companies were involved, including the Inter-University Centre for Marine Biology (CIBM), three university hubs (Genoa, Rome, and Turin), more than 65 professionals, and 10 specialised environmental analysis laboratories. In the onshore section, more than 70 000 parameters are monitored by over 90 monitoring stations; while in the offshore section, more than 20 000 are analysed by over 200 monitoring stations.

The economic benefits for the area are significant. An important share (close to 30%) of the investments made for the regasification terminal (around €1 billion) was absorbed by important industrial companies in the Ravenna area. Overall, more than 240 suppliers were involved, of which 80 in the Province of Ravenna and the Emilia-Romagna Region alone. Up to 1200 people were employed in the peak phase of the project. Co-operation with all stakeholders in the port system and related services, helped maximise the positive employment effects of the facility.

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/floating-lng/21112024/snam-completes-mooring-deck-installation-at-ravenna-regasification-terminal/