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Klaipedos Nafta, operator of the Klaipeda Oil Terminal in Lithuania, has confirmed that it has received notification from the European Commission's (EC) Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) of a grant agreement to fund its LNG infrastructure project in the Baltic Sea region.

Under the grant agreement, Klaipedos Nafta and its partners have been given the green light to use EUR 4 million (approximately US$4.48 million) in financial support from the EC's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) - an EU funding instrument to promote growth, jobs and competitiveness via infrastructure investment in Europe.

The EUR 4 million is to be used to develop an LNG reloading station, small-scale LNG equipment for Klaipedos Nafta's LNG Terminal and LNG jetty equipment.

Construction

The construction of the company's LNG reloading station is ongoing and it is scheduled to begin operating in the second half of 2017.

The contract to build the facility was awarded in February to Chart Ferox, a subsidiary of Chart Industries Inc., along with EPC consortium partner PPS Pipeline Systems Germany.

Chart Ferox has agreed to provide 5,000 cubic meters of LNG storage to the Lithuanian station. To do this, Chart is to utilize five cryogenic storage tanks, each with an external diameter of approximately 6 metres, and a length of over 50 metres. The station is to be built to include two loading areas for LNG trucks as well as jetty modules for ship bunkering.

The LNG regasification facility will have the capacity to supply natural gas at a rate of 6000 normal metres cubed (Nm3) per hour. The current plant design also has a provision for future expansion, which could double the station's storage capacity.

Joint venture with Bomin Linde LNG

Last month, Bunker Index reported that Bomin Linde LNG GmbH & Co. KG had signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Swedish shipowner Furetank Rederi to supply Furetank Rederi vessels using its new LNG bunker supply vessel, which it will have under time-charter contract with shipowner Bernhard Shulte.

The new 7,500-cubic-metre vessel is being chartered by a joint venture - established in November 2015 - in which Bomin Linde LNG has a 90 percent share in the business and Klaipedos Nafta owns the remaining 10 percent.

The LNG bunker vessel is to be used to supply ships and small-scale LNG terminals along the Baltic Sea coast. For Klaipedos Nafta, the vessel will be used to transport LNG to its new onshore LNG reloading station.

The commissioning of the Klaipeda-based supply vessel is scheduled for late 2018.