Croatia could complete its 2 billion cubic metre per year floating LNG facility in 2018, Economy Minister Tomislav Panenic said.
In an interview with Reuters Tomislav said that Croatia intends to complete the construction of a floating LNG terminal in the northern Adriatic by 2018, and the initial capacity would be about two billion cubic metres of gas annually.
"That does not mean giving up on the land terminal, but at this point we believe that we can ensure the stability of the market with a floating terminal", he said.
The original plans included a land terminal with a capacity of six billion cubic metres of gas with the aim of supplying the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
Panenic also reportedly said that Croatia will aim to conclude any legal changes within 6 – 12 months in order to reduce costs and speed up the investment process. Foreign investors – including some of the US – have already shown interest in the possible onshore terminal on the island Krk.
The LNG Krk, Croatia’s first LNG import terminal, was supposed to have a throughput capacity of 6 Gm3/year and include a tanker jetty to accommodate the LNG carriers, 2 LNG storage tanks with a total storage capacity of up to 360 000 m3 LNG, vaporisers and ancillary equipment.