OIL & GAS
New Energy for Italy
Larger than two soccer fields, as high as a 10-story building, offshore LNG
terminal, powered by GE Oil & Gas technology, increases regasification
capacity by 200%
Adriatic LNG, a joint venture between Qatar Terminal Ltd., ExxonMobil
Italiana Gas and Edison SpA, built,
designed and operates what it describes as the “world’s first” offshore
gravity-based structure (GBS) for
unloading, storing and regasifying
liquefied natural gas (LNG). The terminal recently reached its full capacity
— 8 billion m3 of gas per year, representing approximately 10% of Italy’s
annual gas demand.
The facility is located offshore of Porto
Levante, Italy, in the northern Adriatic
Sea, about 15 km off the Veneto coastline, where it is set on the sea floor. It is
connected to the national network of gas
distribution by a new pipeline.
The main feature of the Adriatic LNG
terminal is its concrete GBS — a massive
construction that rests on the seabed at a
depth of approximately 30 m. The concrete structure is made of 90 000 m3 of
cement and 30 000 tons of steel reinforcement, and houses two LNG tanks
each with a capacity of 125 000 m3,
made of steel, with 9% nickel to provide
cold-temperature performance.
The terminal regasification plan is
located on top of the GBS and includes
facilities for mooring and unloading
LNG vessels. This mega-terminal is 375
m long by 115 m wide; the main deck is
18 m above sea level with the top of the
flare tower rising 87 m above sea level.
70 January-February 2010 Diesel & Gas Turbine Worldwide
GE Oil & Gas technology, including the first off-
shore deployment of the GE10-1 dual-fuel tur-
bine, powers Adriatic LNG’s offshore gravity-
based structure (GBS) LNG terminal located
offshore Italy.
emission gas turbines, two GE10-1
single gas modules and one GE10-1
dual-fuel gas turbine, providing a
total power output of 30 MW to provide optimum energy efficiency. In
addition, all three units feature GE’s
advanced dry low NOx (DLN) combustion system that achieves NOx
emissions below 15 ppm — enabling
the mega-terminal to meet stringent
emissions reduction and environmental regulations prescribed by the
Italian regulator.
GE Oil & Gas supplied the units to
Aker Kvaerner Contracting International,
Adriatic LNG’s primary contractor on
the mega-terminal project. GE will
maintain the terminal’s power plant
equipment through an 18-year contract service agreement. The gas turbine modules were assembled and full-load tested at GE’s Avenza Yard, located near the company’s component testing site in Massa, Italy.
Tony Mercer, project manager at
Aker Kvaerner, said, “GE Oil & Gas has
risen to the challenge of delivering a
fully modularized gas turbine power
generation system that helped us save
time during the construction and commissioning stages of the Adriatic LNG
project.” GE’s ability to deliver to a tight
production schedule was instrumental
in overcoming many challenges of this
project, added Mercer. a
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