Tor-Ivar Guttulsrod, ABS, Norway, explains how class support continues to be critical for a new generation of export and fuel supply projects.
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loating LNG (FLNG) production units had been contemplated for almost three decades before the Final Investment Decision (FID) was made for Prelude FLNG offshore Australia in 2011. With that decision, the long road to making FLNG a reality began in earnest. While the support of major energy players and the energy transition towards natural gas helped to kick-start the development of FLNG, more recent projects are focused on smaller scale applications, including direct gas exports and LNG bunkering. Demand for natural gas continues to grow as a substitute for coal and oil in power generation, as fuel for transportation, and as an industrial feedstock. It is therefore prudent to have workable solutions for storage, handling, and loading of gas as a means to bring it to a diverse range of consumers. FLNG can typically be the preferred solution where conditions make it challenging to pipe the gas due to distance, water depth, pipelaying difficulties, or a combination of these. Another element that can push towards FLNG rather than onshore plants is remote locations, because a floating plant can be built under controlled conditions in a shipyard. The search for viable, safe, and cost-effective solutions for producing what used to be deemed
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