As floating LNG players explore innovative power solutions, clear guidance keeps safety the top priority while pursuing operational and environmental objectives, argues Terrance Roberts, ABS Business Development Manager, Global Offshore, in the first part of a two-part article.
LNG is playing a central role in the future energy landscape, especially in power generation projects with reduced carbon emissions. Floating LNG (FLNG) installations offer a flexible solution for producing LNG offshore or nearshore, particularly where onshore facilities face infrastructure constraints.
An emerging approach involves electrifying nearshore FLNG installations by replacing or complementing traditional onboard power generation with an external power source. This method has the potential to reduce operating costs and improve energy efficiency. Additionally, outsourcing the power source decreases maintenance burdens on the installation operator, enhancing safety and operational stability.
Exploring external power sources
With the current global energy scenario of emerging economies and increased electrification, the energy industry is looking to expand natural gas production and availability to meet global demand. FLNG installations receive gas from offshore or onshore sources, process and liquefy it onboard, then store it for offloading to LNG carriers. This makes them an increasingly popular solution to replace onshore gas liquefaction plants, to monetise stranded gas offshore and to support communities lacking onshore infrastructure.
Future-ready FLNG players are exploring external power sources such as shoreside utilities, onshore generators, power service vessels, and offshore wind farms to power installations to curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and significantly cut costly offshore fuel dependency.
The ABS safety report, Powering Near Shore FLNG Installations from an External Source, issued in August 2025, supports owners, operators, designers, shipyards equipment, and systems manufacturers, integrators, and regulators in navigating the design considerations for FLNG electrical power systems that rely on these external power sources. By following goal-based standards and conducting thorough risk assessments, the offshore energy industry can continue to implement this technology and innovate while maintaining the highest safety standards.
A framework for novel FLNG power systems
ABS applies a goal-based standards (GBS) approach1 to novel concepts without a proven service history, such as externally powered FLNG installations. This framework helps verify that new technologies achieve an equivalent level of safety to conventional designs through clearly defined safety goals, functional requirements that support those goals, and risk assessments to identify and mitigate hazards.
The GBS framework consists of five tiers, from high-level safety goals down to specific regulations and industry practices. It also provides a structured path for classifying novel FLNG power systems, giving stakeholders confidence that safety is maintained while onboarding new technology.
When goal-based approaches are used for compliance with administration and coastal state requirements, authorities should be contacted directly or through the class society to understand the extent to which they will consider alternatives to conventional requirements.
Safety goals and functional requirements
The ABS report establishes safety goals across seven key areas:
- Power generation and distribution goals promote safe and reliable electrical power for all operational requirements, with fail-safe features preventing progres-sive failure.
- Fire safety goals focus on preventing fire and explosion occurrence through proper equipment selection and hazardous area management.
- Structural goals maintain integrity under environmental conditions and operational loads anticipated during the design life.
- Personnel safety goals protect crew from hazards associated with machinery and systems, particularly high-voltage equipment.
- Safety management goals establish procedures for safe operations and emer-gency situations while also confirming that crews are qualified and trained.
- Automation goals help ensure that control, monitoring and safety systems perform as intended and provide equivalent safety from remote locations.
- Security goals help achieve cyber-resilient installations that can withstand operational technology threats.
Each goal is supported by specific functional requirements that translate safety objectives into actionable design criteria. For example, main power sources must have sufficient capacity for all operational modes, emergency power systems must be independent of main power, and electrical equipment must operate within the power quality envelope.