Cyprus LNG Terminal

This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor and the Center for Media and Democracy.

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Cyprus LNG Terminal, also called Vassiliko FSRU Terminal, is a proposed LNG terminal in Cyprus. There have been no development updates on the export terminal since 2015 and the project is presumed to be cancelled. The import terminal is still proposed.

Location

The map below shows the location of the project, near Vassiliko Port, in Larnaca District.

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Export Project Details

• Owner:
• Location: Vassiliko (Vasilikos) Port, Larnaca District, Cyprus
• Coordinates: 34.72772, 33.30104 (exact)
• Capacity:5.0 mtpa, 0.72 bcfd
• Status: Proposed
• Type: Export
• Trains: 3 to 8
• Start Year: 2021

Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day

Import Project Details

• Owner: DEFA
• Location: Vassiliko (Vasilikos) Port, Larnaca District, Cyprus
• Coordinates: 34.72772, 33.30104 (exact)
• Capacity: 1.3 mtpa, 0.19 bcfd
• Status: Proposed
• Type: Import
• Start Year: 2022

Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day

Background

In 2015, Forbes estimated the cost of the Cyprus LNG Terminal at $6 billion. It will include an LNG floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), a jetty intended for the unit’s mooring, a jetty borne, a natural gas pipeline and an onshore gas pipeline, a shoreside block valve facility, an onshore natural gas buffer solution and a pressure reduction and metering station. The planned LNG facility will have an LNG storage capacity of 120,000-250,000 m3 and will aim to provide a send-out capacity of regasified natural gas of up to 220T/hour(max yearly sendout of approx.2.44b cm /year and a max daily average of approx.76.17GWh /day) initially and be able to cover additional capacity requirement in the future. It is partially funded by the European Union (105,737,320 EUR/117,178,098 USD) and is listed as a Project of Common Interest (PCI). Commissioning is expected in 2022.

Import Proposal

Since at least 2009, the government of Cyprus has been promoting a proposal to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification facility near Vassiliko Port in Cyprus. The facility would import LNG for power generation and industrial purposes. It would be built by Natural Gas Public Company (DEFA), the Cypriot state-owned gas company. In October 2016, DEFA initiated a study of the gas import proposal.

In October 2018 the Cypriot government launched a tender for the import terminal at Vasiliko port, and in January 2019 extended the deadline for offers to March 2019.

In August of 2019, the Natural Gas Public Company of Cyprus (DEFA) announced that a Chinese-led consortium has been chosen as the preferred bidder for the construction of the EUR 250 million LNG import terminal and related infrastructure. The consortium includes JV China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Co Ltd, AKTOR S.A. and METRON S.A., with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co. Ltd and Wilhelmsen Ship Management Limited.

The LNG import project is co-financed by a grant of 40%, or up to $111 million USD from the European Union’s “Connecting Europe Facility”. The terminal is scheduled for completion in 2021. It will include a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU), a jetty for the mooring of the FSRU, jetty-borne and onshore pipelines, as well as additional facilities.

The terminal is being built by a consortium of China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering, Metron, Hudong-Zhongua Shipbuilding and Wilhelmsen Ship Management.

Export Proposal

The proposed export terminal will have a minimum of three trains and a maximum of eight trains.

In recent years, large natural gas fields have been discovered off the coast of Cyprus. A proposal exists — apparently separate from the import/regasification project described above — to build a 5-million-metric-per-year (mtpa) LNG liquefaction facility at the same location, at Vassiliko Port. In August 2014, the Cypriot government entered into negotiations with several firms over the LNG facility. In June 2015, several oil & gas companies declared Cyprus's Aphrodite gas field to be commercially viable. According to one proposal, Israeli gas would also be exported from the Cyprus LNG facility.

Forbes reported in November 2015 that the if Egypt joins Cyrus and Israel in a venture to import gas to Egypt, the three countries have enough infrastructure to form a regional Eastern Mediterranean gas hub.

There have been no development updates on the export terminal since 2015 and the project is presumed to be cancelled. The import terminal is still proposed.