September 28, 2023 [LNG Prime]- Lithuania’s KN, the state-owned operator of the country’s first LNG import facility in Klaipeda, expects to receive a cargo of LNG at the 170,000-cbm FSRU Independence on October 1 after it completes planned maintenance work.

KN said in a statement that the LNG terminal’s operations will be temporarily suspended from September 26 to 7am local time on September 30 due to the scheduled annual equipment maintenance and repair work.

During this period, Lithuania will receive natural gas through the Lithuanian-Polish gas pipeline interconnector GIPL and from the Incukalnis underground gas storage facility in Latvia, it said.

The company performs the FSRU maintenance work every year.

KN said it will inspect the entire infrastructure of the LNG terminal, including the FSRU, the jetty, the gas transmission pipeline facilities, and the gas metering station.

Besides KN’s employees, Lithuanian and international contractors will perform these operations as well.

Once the LNG terminal resumes normal operations, KN expects the next LNG cargo to arrive in Klaipeda on October 1, it said.

FSRU to visit yard next year

KN said that the 2014-built FSRU Independence will visit a shipyard next spring.

During the yard visit, the underwater section of the vessel will be inspected and repair work, which cannot be carried out without raising the vessel from the water, will be conducted, it said.

Since the size of the FSRU requires a large dock, which is not available in Klaipeda and neighboring ports, KN said it will send the unit to one of the southwestern European ports.

KN expects this work to last about 25 days and said that the FSRU will not perform regasification for about one and a half month in 2024.

KN added that it informed market participants and clients of the LNG terminal about the scheduled timeline.

The LNG terminal operator recently offered 9 TWh per year of long-term regasification capacity at the FSRU.

The capacity allocation procedure started on September 15 and includes the period from 2025 to 2032 (inclusive) and from 2033 onwards.

Last year, KN exercised its option to buy the FSRU Independence for $153.5 million, excluding VAT, from Hoegh LNG at the end of its current lease deal in 2024.

The FSRU has a regas capacity of 3.75 bcm but there are plans to boost the capacity up to 6.25 bcm due to very high demand.

KN also selected a unit of Norway’s Hoegh LNG to operate and maintain the FSRU for five years.

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