Turkey to debut 1st onshore LNG production and storage

A Turkish company, LNG Gaz Üretim Depolama ve Satış AS (LNG gas production, storage and sales Corp.) has received the green light to progress the country's first onshore LNG production and storage in the country's midwestern and northern Anatolian regions, the president of the company said Tuesday.

The project will be Turkey's first launch into LNG production and non-marine storage although in small volumes, Cevat Evliyaoğlu told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.

On May 3, Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) approved the company's application to build two LNG storage facilities in Turkey's Afyonkarahisar and Çorum cities.

"EMRA is working on the tarification of the storage facility. This tarification will also be the first for EMRA and will set a precedent for future projects. After tarification, we will start negotiations with financial institutions and banks for project finance," Evliyaoğlu said.

Turkey, which is the third biggest gas importer in Europe, is struggling to increase its natural gas storage capacity.

In 2017, a gas storage facility was opened in central Anatolia. The country also started to store gas offshore with Floating Storage Regasification Units (FSRU) in December 2016. A second FSRU was launched in Hatay - a province in the Mediterranean region in early February.

"In Turkey, natural gas was stored only in gas form in storage or underground in the past," Evliyaoğlu said.

He added that gas is stored in FSRUs in liquefied form offshore, but these facilities are limited to coastal areas.

"We will not only be the first in LNG production, but also the first in LNG storage on a terrestrial basis in Anatolia," he said.

The company's facilities will have a production capacity of 208 cubic meters of LNG per day and storage facilities of 2,000 cubic meters of LNG, Evliyaoğlu explained.

"This is a strategic project for Turkey in natural gas supply security. Capacities are expandable in line with the demand from LNG users and natural gas demand from the national transmission line," he said.

The liquefaction method will enable gas to be stored by decreasing its volume by 1/600th in a gaseous state based on standard conditions for temperature and pressure.

According to Evliyaoğlu, the $35 million project will start in June and is set for completion within approximately one and a half years.