Snam's FSRU has handled 29 liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes since July 2023 for a total of 2.6 billion cubic metres of gas injected into the network
Italis LNG, no longer Golar Tundra. This is the new name — approved by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport — of Snam's floating LNG terminal, which has been operating since July 2023 at the Tuscan port of Piombino. With the vessel now listed in the Italian ship registry, the old Marshall Islands flag has been replaced with the tricolour Italian flag.
After sending a formal request to the Livorno Port Authority, Snam’s company FSRU Italia successfully completed the process of registering the floating LNG terminal in the Italian ship registry, intending to update it to the technical requirements of Italian regulations.
“The inclusion of the Piombino floating LNG terminal in the Italian ship registry is another important step for our FSRU, which we are particularly pleased about. In just under a year, Italis LNG has received 29 cargoes of liquefied natural gas from five different countries, for a total of 2.6 billion cubic metres of gas injected into the Italian network, further guaranteeing the security and diversification of energy sources for our country,” stated Stefano Venier, CEO of Snam.
With a total of 23 billion cubic metres of regasification capacity, LNG today makes an essential contribution to the security of the Italian gas system. LNG now covers a quarter of Italy’s gas supply and, in the first two months of 2024, overtook the main entry point via pipeline, namely Mazara del Vallo, where gas from Algeria is. By allowing LNG to come from different supplier countries, FSRUs are therefore a key asset in ensuring flexibility for the country's entire energy system.
As part of its initiatives from 2022 onwards to further diversify the country's gas supplies following the Russia-Ukraine crisis, in addition to Italis LNG, Snam has also acquired the floating regasifier BW Singapore, which will start operating off the coast of Ravenna in early 2025. The country's overall regasification capacity will then rise to 28 billion cubic metres, equally distributed between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts, for a total volume equivalent to what the pipeline imported from Russia in 2021.