• 11 Feb 2019

The Eastern Sicilian Sea Port Authority (AdSP), which oversees the Italian Ports of Augusta and Catania under the leadership of the President Andrea Annunziata, in the last weeks of 2018 launched a market survey aimed at identifying subjects potentially interested in construction and management  of an LNG coastal facility in the Port of Augusta.

The deadline for answers has expired last 6 January but it is not yet known how many have arrived and from whom. The initiative follows the analogy launched last year by the Port of Naples, but whose procedure has not yet been completed. On the idea of a coastal depot in Augusta, able to intercept the future LNG maritime traffic in the Sicily Channel, ConferenzaGNL organized a workshop in collaboration with the Navy (http://www.conferenzagnl.com/workshop/augusta-13-maggio-2016/?lang=en)

The AdSP has declared there is not yet a formal procedure, but rather a preliminary market assessment to verify the operators' interest in a possible project, for which the Authority will later evaluate the possibility of proceeding with a formal bid.

The initiative finds substantial groundwork in the GAINN4MOS project, funded by the European Commission through the funds of the CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) program, which includes the promotion of basic engineering projects for prototypes and pilots of LNG infrastructure and/or bunkering stations in 12 European ports (Koper, Nantes - St Nazaire, Fos-Marseille, Rijeka, Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Augusta, Ancona, Ravenna, Civitavecchia and Venice).

The deadline for submitting the expressions of interest to the ADSP was set for February 6, 2019, after which the institution will hold a meeting with the subjects judged suitable to "start a discussion  on the technical characteristics and location of the storage facility" . Once these points have been clarified, within the following 60-90 days the Authority could start the public tender process to assign the concession.

The Port of Augusta, located in the province of Syracuse in Eastern Sicily, is the largest natural harbor in the lower Mediterranean, endowed with an important industrial hub, an oil and a commercial port, a military base and two city docks.

The Port is included in the TEN-T Networks "CORE" NETWORK as the Strategic Port of the European Union for its barycentric position along the international traffic routes.

On February 14th 2019 (at 3:00 pm) at the headquarters of Confindustria Siracusa will be held the conference "A LNG warehouse at the service of the maritime system".

The main reports will focus on the following topics: "LNG as marine fuel" (speaker A. Manieri, Fosen Ulstein Design & Engineering), "LNG plant: installation and bunkering" (speaker  R. Barbuscia, Fosen Ulstein Design & Engineering ) and "Destination low-emission mobility, the Sicilian route" (speaker M. Dogliani, CS Mare Foundation).

Download the Program here https://www.adspmaresiciliaorientale.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Programma-14-febbraio-2019.pdf

Source: OilGasNews