The Reni port authority is considering the possibility of attracting investors to participate in a public-private partnership for implementation of a project for construction of a terminal for receiving, storing, and bunkering liquefied natural gas at the Reni seaport.
The CFTS portal reported this, citing information from the Ukrainian Seaports Authority (USPA).
The project provides for construction of an LNG terminal and a floating LNG bunker berth on the territory of the Reni seaport’s technical maintenance base.
The project is expected to be implemented in the period of 2020-2025. The terminal will be built on an area of 4 hectares.
According to the USPA, construction of the LNG terminal near the Odesa-Bucharest international highway in the Reni special economic zone and the possibility of using existing assets and related infrastructure will make the terminal promising and beneficial to both the country and potential private investors.
The advantages for a private investor include the possibility of receiving international and European grants, participation in international programs for construction of LNG terminals with the aim of reducing the ecological burden on the environment, and the inclusion of Ukraine’s Danube ports in the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).
Implementation of the investment project is expected to result in an increase in the number of ship calls to the Reni seaport.
The urgency of creating an LNG terminal is due to the need to equip Ukrainian seaports with LNG bunker stations, among other things. According to the European Union’s Directive 2014/94/EU, a sufficient number of LNG terminals should be installed in seaports by 2025. In addition, the number of vessels that run on liquefied gas in the world is increasing every year.
Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelian recently stated that the inclusion of eight Ukrainian ports, including the Reni port, in the TEN-T opens up new opportunities for Ukraine’s transport industry to participate in joint projects with the European Union with potential investments of EUR 4.5 billion.