Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in Brussels that Croatia is considering the possibility of increasing the capacity of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the island of Krk from current 2.6 to 2.9 billion cubic meters of gas per year, which is achievable with existing infrastructure.
PM Plenkovic said that Croatia’s decision to build LNG terminal proved to be vital in current situation, as it offers the possibility of diversification of gas sources, compared to previous situation when Croatia was more dependent on Russian gas imports.
At the end of February, the terminal’s operator LNG Hrvatska said that almost 3.3 million cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been delivered to the LNG terminal on the island of Krk since the start of 2021, when it was put into commercial operation, and more than 1.9 billion cubic meters has been delivered to the Croatian transport system.
In almost 14 months, 23 LNG transshipments have been carried out, and as many LNG transport ships have arrived at the terminal. The largest cargo amount arrived from the United States, followed by Nigeria, Qatar, Belgium, Trinidad and Tobago, Egypt, and France.
Contracts on the use of the terminal have been signed with INA, HEP, MET Croatia Energy Trade, MVM CEEnergy Croatia, and PPD. 85 % of the terminal’s capacity has been leased until 2027.
The floating LNG terminal accepts LNG from ships and after its regasification, gas is transported via the pipeline system to end-buyers. The terminal consists of the LNG Croatia ship, a Floating Storage & Regasification Unit (FSRU), a jetty with auxiliary facilities, and a connection pipeline leading to the new Omisalj-Zlobin gas pipeline which connects the terminal with Croatia’s gas network. The LNG Croatia ship has a capacity of 140,000 cubic meters and a regasification capacity of 300,000 cubic meters per hour, which means an annual capacity of 2.6 billion cubic meters of gas.
