[ad_1]
Promises transparency
The decision to buy the storage vessel was made because the LNG terminal has not lost strategic importance for the country’s national security. According to experts, it should operate until at least 2044, so an LNG ship is needed after 2024 for at least another 20 years. The option of continuing to charter an Independence vessel or another vessel is not provided by law. The gas storage vessel must be purchased. The budget for it must not exceed 160 million euros.
“By the end of 2022, we have to inform the current owner of the Independence ship, the Norwegian company Hoegh LNG, whether Lithuania will buy his ship or not. So next year we need to know which ship will be in Klaipeda in the future,” he says KN LNG regulated activities and the head of the LNG project, dr. Arūnas Molis.
The law obliges the CN to choose the most advantageous offer, so that Independence will not necessarily be bought. According to Mindaugas Navikas, commercial director of the CN, an international public tender has been called for total transparency.
Preparations for the competition began in November last year. A series of analyzes of the LNG ship market have been carried out, all market participants have been interviewed, i.e. shipbuilders and ship owners, which ship they could offer and under what conditions. There have already been several conversations with potential suppliers. By the way, it must be said that this market is not large. In 2012, when the contest, after which Independence was selected, was organized, there were only three participants.
The contest was announced in mid-July of this year. Initial applications were waited until August 16. The first stage of the contest has already ended, now the second is being carried out, when new information is provided to the participants. It will expire in about two months.
There are four possible options
According to M. Navikas, there is still a possibility to build a new LNG ship for Lithuania. Although, having only 160 million. budget, this option is unlikely to be a more theoretical option.
A more realistic possibility would be to buy a used boat. By the way, there are currently only around 30 LNG storage vessels in operation in the world. At the time the Independence vessel was chartered, Klaipėda LNG was the fifth commissioned terminal in the world.
Another option is to turn the ship into a device. For example, a carrier gas can be converted into a storage vessel by installing degassing equipment that converts the liquid fraction to gas. By the way, its price is about half the price of a boat.
In addition to these three options, there is also the storage facility for the Independence vessel, although Hoegh LNG is not participating in the tender. According to M. Navik, KN has the opportunity to take advantage of the acquisition circumstance provided for in the lease. With another ship, Hoegh LNG could compete.
I will not buy cheaper
According to A. Molis, there is currently a trend in the world that not only is the number of LNG terminals increasing, but the technology of floating storage vessels is becoming more and more common. It is not just about the cost of this option being cheaper because it can be built faster, but also about the flexibility because this boat can be used in a number of ways.
According to A. Molis, KN will not buy a worse boat, even if its price is lower. Given that that ship will have to be in service in 2044, it is important that it be able to operate as efficiently as possible by estimating the costs of the entire logistics chain. The maintenance costs of the ship, the crew, the energy costs of the gas, etc. will also be taken into account.
One of the requirements for acquiring the LNG vessel is that it must be able to operate in winter conditions, that is, it needs a closed wheel system. There are not many boats on the market with it, which further narrows the choice.
Another very important thing is the compatibility of the boat with the berth already built for it, that is, it is not necessary to build a new one. KN and the Klaipeda State Port Authority have invested around € 70 million in the current pier, where Independence is located.
What type of boat do users need?
Current and future users of the Klaipeda LNG terminal were asked what type of ship they would need. According to Jurgita Šilinskaitė-Venslovienė, head of CN LNG’s commercial department, they say that the current size is suitable for them or it could be larger.
Gas carriers typically bring 130,000 to 150,000 cubic meters of cargo to Independence. If this ship were smaller, they would have to spend more time in Klaipeda, experience downtime, increase their costs. For example, a day of a gas carrier costs more than 50 thousand US dollars.
The size of the Independence tanks is 170 thousand cubic meters According to A. Molis, the capacity of the storage vessel should not change significantly in the future, vessels of at least 150 000 cubic meters or more will be admitted to the CN.
According to M. Navikas, there are rumors that Lithuania is buying too big a ship. According to him, the smaller the LNG ship, the higher its maintenance costs.
“In our opinion, 150-180 thousand. Cub. M boat is optimal,” he says.
According to J.Šilinskaitė-Venslovienė, Lithuania’s peak demand for natural gas (NG) in one day in the coming years will not be less than that of 2012-2013 and will probably be around 10 million. puppy. m per day. Therefore, it would not make sense to set lower degassing rates.
When asked if the acquired storage vessel will be shipped from Lithuania after 2044, CN specialists said that in theory it is conceivable that the storage vessel will operate for 30-35 years before completing its appeal. Later, he could stay in Klaipeda and start doing other duties, such as sailing as a gasman, perhaps generating electricity, etc.
Terminal occupation
The maximum theoretical capacity of the Klaipeda LNG terminal is 3.75 billion cubic meters. subway. The actual commercial capacity of the terminal is about 3 billion. puppy. subway.
The Klaipėda LNG terminal collects part of the income from users through the gasification fee, and the other part to cover costs is received from the security component, which is paid by all users of the Lithuanian DG. The goal is to reduce the latter share, so it is currently considering how to change the terminal prices and ask foreign consumers to contribute more to the terminal costs.
The annual average occupancy of the Klaipeda LNG terminal is very similar to that of other European LNG terminals and corresponds to its average. For example, in 2020, its employment rate was 47% and the European average 45%. By the way, 100 percent. unreachable because sometimes the ship cannot dock due to wind etc. A particularly good result would be 70 percent. job.
Since its inception 7 years ago, the Klaipeda LNG terminal has had a total of 241 ship-to-ship operations. In 2015-2016, the terminal had two users, and today – 7. Among them there are two Estonian companies, and as of this year – a Norwegian company.
In the last two years, the LNG supply from the Klaipėda LNG terminal represents more than 60%. of Lithuania’s total gas consumption. The rest comes from Russia via Belarus.
The consumption of NG in Lithuania is growing: in the first half of this year, compared to the same period last year, the total consumption of NG grew by 17.5%.
This winter, the highest daily NG consumption was reached in the Lithuanian market: about 140 gigawatt hours. The Klaipeda LNG terminal, operating in maximum technological mode, can supply the market with 120 gigawatt hours per day.
Hope – Poland
There are many LNG terminals in our region, which includes the Baltic countries, Finland and Poland. According to J. Šilinskaitė-Venslovienė, Poland is becoming important to us because it intends not to renew its long-term contract with Gazprom from 2023. The Poles have adopted their gas market diversification legislation, which stipulates that to From 2023, the DG Third country will not be able to account for more than 33% of the country’s gas consumption in 2007. The exception only applies to the Swinoujscie terminal, which means that the Klaipėda LNG terminal can play an important role in the gas supply to Poland.
According to J.Šilinskaitė-Venslovienė, the Polish market for GD will be the fastest growing in the entire region, and perhaps even throughout Europe. The Poles intend to use gas to produce electricity and heat to reduce air pollution. They predict that natural gas consumption will grow by another 10 billion cubic meters over the next 10 years. m, when today Poland consumes about 20 billion cubic meters. m of gas. The Poles plan to convert the coal used in the production of electricity and heat into renewable energy sources and natural gas as a cleaner fossil fuel.
By the way, the Gipl gas pipeline connection between Poland and Lithuania will appear in mid-2022. It will allow the supply of up to 1.9 billion cubic meters of gas to the Polish market.
Gas is expensive
Regarding DG prices in Europe and around the world, the last two years have gone through an interesting cycle. Last year, they had fallen to record lows due to falling global gas consumption due to the cronavirus pandemic. In early summer, the lowest GD price was around € 15 per megawatt-hour, up from € 4-5 last year under spot market conditions. In winter, the maximum price is 25-28 euros per megawatt hour.
It is feared that in the winter of this year, the price of NG in the world could reach 40 euros per megawatt-hour. One of the main reasons: 30-40 percent each. GD consumption is growing in the Asian market and in Latin America. Demand already far exceeds supply. Due to COVID-19, projects for new liquefied natural gas plants have been slightly suspended.
[ad_2]
