State to invite new tenders to complete LNG project

The government will invite two tenders in a bid to complete the LNG project, one for remaining construction work on the jetty at the land-based facilities at Vasiliko, the other for acquiring a floating regasification unit, Energy Minister George Papanastasiou told MPs on Tuesday.

The first tender for the jetty, where the floating, storage and regasification unit (Fsru) unit will dock. The second tender is for an Fsru, which will convert LNG back into its gaseous form so that it can be fed to the Vasilikos power plant to generate electricity.

The government seeks to acquire an Fsru as a temporary fix and a backup, given that the vessel under the contract with the Chinese-led consortium is still tied up in Shanghai.

Both tenders are proceeding “at a fast pace” and the process has received the thumbs-up from the state treasury, Papanastasiou said.

Regarding the Prometheas vessel in Shanghai, the minister said the prospects of the Chinese-led consortium releasing it are remote.

It was still unclear who exactly is preventing the vessel from departing, he added.

The minister was briefing MPs at the House energy committee, convened extraordinarily to discuss the LNG project debacle.

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