Venice Energy to Import Gas < Port Adelaide Residents Environment Protection Group

Venice Energy has submitted a development application to construct a Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) at Outer Harbour.

An FSRU is essentially a floating gas tank connected to the domestic gas network which is periodically refilled by an LNG tanker.

The use of of Floating Storage Regasification Units (FSRU) is a relatively new process. A quick internet search reveals the first was built in 2007, and the proponent’s application states only 25 are operating world wide. FSRU essentially replace land based LNG terminals, but have lower capital requirements and can be moved to other locations on demand.

A water curtain used to protect the FSRU an tanker during transfer — Water curtain used to protect the FSRU and the LNG tanker during transfer. The -160°C LNG could cause severe damage if it contacted areas not designed for it, so the water serves to wash the LNG away and accelerate vaporisation.

The project will require extensive dredging (1.8m tonnes), comparable to the recent Flinders Port’s capital dredging program ( 2.2m tonnes). In this case the dredge plume will have less area to disperse and is likely to cause damage to newly colonised seagrass at the entrance to the section banks and down the western side of Torrens Island.

We’re concerned the project is likely to cause extensive seagrass loss in the near vicinity, add to South Australian greenhouse gas emissions and expose the State’s only container port and proposed nuclear submarine construction facilities to unnecessary risk.

And what the world doesn’t need post COP 26 are projects to use more gas.

PAREPG’s detailed response is here

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