The natural gas deliquescent terminal project at Vassilikos "is feasible, should be completed and will be completed," the Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry, George Papanastasiou, has stressed before the House Energy Committee, which continued its discussion of the topic "The implementation process of the liquefied natural gas import terminal in the Vassilikos area."
A natural gas deliquescent terminal is a type of gas drying system that uses water-soluble salt or organic compound tablets to absorb moisture from natural gas, drying the gas through a process where the tablets dissolve into a slurry that is then drained.
The Minister of Energy also announced that Cyprus' Natural Gas Infrastructure Company ETYFA's consultant for the project, Technip Energies, "strongly recommends that it is impossible and operationally dangerous to call for tenders at this time."
Papanastasiou was responding to a statement by the Chairman of the Committee, Kyriakos Hadjiyiannis, who, addressing the Minister, said that "a delaying tactic is being followed with the aim and desire that this project not be completed."
"You can't bring Technip into it now - we've been churning out study after study to document the steps of our delaying tactics," Hadjiyiannis added.
Hadjiyiannis said today it had been expected that "there would be at least a proposal on the table to break the deadlock" and added that "on the whole, the Government is following a delaying policy, investing time because the consumer pays."
“There are not many options at this time, because this project is incomplete,” Papanastasiou said.
"We have a ship, which will probably be ready next month, after passing the final checks, and when the asset, the most important in this project, is ready, the rest will have to be completed in some way so that the ship can dock at the pier to begin gasification and the use of natural gas in conventional power generation," he added.
Referring to the partial conclusion, Papanastasiou said that the project consultant has "strongly recommended that it is impossible and operationally dangerous to call for tenders at this time."
Referring to the consultant's suggestions, Papanastasiou said that "another study should be carried out - a gap study that will identify any deviations in the design from the construction or from materials that have been purchased."
He added that this will be possible within the next two months, maximum, when this study is completed and "we will know the next steps."
"If this study reveals significant issues, then the next step should essentially be taken, which is a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED), that is, a mini redesign that will indicate the course of the project," he added.
Referring to a good scenario, Papanastasiou said that "if no significant issues arise, the offers and terms of the offers, which have already been prepared by ETYFA and the consultant, should be immediately released so that construction companies can be interested in completing the project."
(Source: InBusinessNews)
