MDL Assists Saipem on Gastrade’s LNG Development Off Greece
Maritime Developments (MDL) has assisted Saipem in progressing an LNG project offshore Greece, which included work on the connection of Gastrade’s Alexandroupolis floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) to the country’s gas transmission system.
The project consisted of a FSRU and a mooring and pipeline system, connecting the floating unit to the Greek National Natural Gas Transmission System (NNGTS).
An MDL flex-lay spread was used for the installation of two flexible risers, a dynamic control umbilical and associated jewellery, connecting into a Pipeline End Manifold (PLEM) from the FSRU.
Subsea pipelines then connected the PLEM back to the coastal valve station onshore, MDL informed.
As Offshore Engineer understands, the work is related to LNG project that will see Gastrade’s FSRU anchored about 18 kilometers off the northern Greek port of Alexandroupolis, carrying gas to shore via a 28-kilometre-long pipeline.
The FSRU arrived to Greece in December 2023, after completing an almost 10-month conversion at the Seatrium shipyard in Singapore.
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The pipeline, once operational, will deliver natural gas to the NNGTS and onwards to the final consumers in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, North Macedonia, Serbia and further to Moldova and Ukraine to the east, and Hungary and Slovakia to the west.
Following the completion of all testing activities, the terminal is planned to become commercially operational in the first quarter of 2024 and will have a maximum sustainable regasification capacity of 5.5 billion cubic meters a year.
“This has been a very interesting – and also challenging – project from start to finish, which makes it that much more rewarding to see it through to successful completion.
“With it being winter in the Mediterranean, we faced weather setbacks; but thanks to our modern technology and expert field service personnel, we were quick to respond to the changing conditions and progress with the installation as soon as it was safe to do so.
“It has been a pleasure to work with Saipem and assist with the delivery of the Gastrade project.
“I’m pleased that we have been able to support Saipem with our engineering and back-deck expertise at the different stages of this project - on and offshore - and hope to be able to do so on another scope in the near future,” said Scott Stewart, MD’s Project Manager.