Turkish energy company LNG Gaz Üretim Depolama ve Satış A.Ş. will set up the country's first onshore LNG production and storage facility, president of the company Cevat Evliyaoğlu said Tuesday. On May 3, Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) approved its application to build two onshore LNG storage facilities in Afyonkarahisar and Çorum.
"Although in small volumes, the project will be Turkey's first efforts in LNG production and non-marine storage," Evliyaoğlu said.
"EMRA is working on the tarification of the storage facility. This will also be a first for EMRA and set a precedent for future projects. After the tarification, we will start negotiations with financial institutions and banks for project finance," he said. Turkey, which is Europe's third-biggest gas importer, is struggling to increase its natural gas storage capacity.
In 2017, a gas storage facility was opened in the central Anatolian region. The country also commissioned an offshore Floating Storage Regasification Units (FSRU) in December 2016. A second FSRU was launched in the Mediterranean region of Hatay in early February.
"In the past, Turkey would store natural gas in its gaseous form in storage or underground facilities," Evliyaoğlu said, adding that FSRUs store gas in liquefied form, but can access coastal areas only.
"We will not only be the first in LNG production, but also the first to store LNG storage onshore 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 said.
"For Turkey, this is a strategic project to ensure 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 enables 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 a year and a half.
