GE Oil & Gas powers first offshore gravity-based LNG terminal
Posted: 24 November 2009
GE Oil & Gas technology is powering the first gravity-based offshore LNG terminal located 17 kilometers offshore from the town of Rovigo, near Venice, on Italy’s north east coast.
Owned and operated by Adriatic LNG, the terminal is moored in waters 30-meter deep and is the world’s first use of an artificial island Gravity Based Structure (GBS) for offshore LNG.
At the heart of the engineering solution is an enormous reinforced concrete box that rests on the sea floor and houses two LNG storage tanks.
Overall, the facility is 375 meters long by 115 meters wide. In addition, the project also marks the first ever offshore deployment of a GE10-1 ‘dual fuel low emissions’ gas turbine system.
"GE Oil & Gas has risen to the challenge of delivering a fully modularized gas turbine power generation system that will help us to save significant time during the construction and commissioning stages of the Adriatic LNG project," said Tony Mercer, Project Manager, Aker Kvaerner.
"GE's positive attitude and desire to deliver to a tight production schedule was instrumental in overcoming many challenges. We look forward to working with GE Oil & Gas on future projects."
"Adriatic LNG and its Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil and Edison owners have made the strategic vision of offshore LNG a here-and-now reality," said Claudi Santiago, President and CEO of GE Oil & Gas.
"We are delighted that GE technology is helping to deliver this remarkable achievement, especially given the important role that LNG plays within a diversified energy mix. I’m also proud that GE equipment is supporting the project on the supply side through the import of LNG from the RasGas Train-6 in Qatar."
The new gas mega-terminal will increase Italy’s regasification capacity by 200 per cent, is larger than two soccer fields, as high as a 10-story building and has two LNG tanks with a combined annual capacity of 8 billion cubic meters - representing around 10 per cent of Italy's yearly gas demand.
The Adriatic LNG operated terminal receives LNG shipments from Qatar (80 per cent), Egypt and Trinidad (remainder) twice a week. The LNG is regasified at the terminal and then transported to an onshore metering station, before it enters Italy’s gas network.
The LNG mega-terminal’s operations are powered by three GE10 low-emission gas turbines – two GE10-1 single gas modules and one GE10-1 dual fuel gas turbine, providing a total power output of 30 megawatts to provide optimum energy efficiency.
In addition, all three units feature GE’s advanced Dry Low NOx (DLN) combustion system that achieves NOx emissions below 15 parts per million – enabling the mega-terminal to meet the stringent emissions reduction and environmental regulations prescribed by the Italian regulator.
GE Oil & Gas supplied the units to Aker Kvaerner Contracting International, Adriatic LNG’s primary contractor on the mega-terminal project.
GE will maintain the terminal’s power plant equipment through an 18-year contract service agreement. The gas turbine modules were assembled and full-load tested at GE’s Avenza Yard, located near the company’s components testing site in Massa, Italy.
Adriatic LNG is a joint venture between Qatar Terminal Limited (45 per cent), a 100 per cent owned Qatar Petroleum subsidiary, ExxonMobil Italiana Gas (45 per cent) and Edison SpA (10 per cent).
Posted by Richard Price, Editor, EnergyME.com
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