ZAGREB, Jan. 1 (Reuters) – Croatia’s natural gas (LNG) gas plant on the northern Adriatic island of Krk began operations on Friday amid the first gas delivery, the company that runs the unit said.
“Tristar Ruby LNG tanker anchored with 143,000 cubic meters of gas marking the beginning of the commercial use of the airport,” HGvatska LNG director Hrvoje Krhen told the Hina state news agency.
According to the company, the gas will be exported from the United States, until January 3rd.
Krk floating LNG airport has a capacity of 2.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year and its capabilities over the next three years have been sold out.
Plans for an LNG building on Krk were launched more than two decades ago and initially the idea was to build a land building.
However, due to too much red tape and the challenge of the local community and environmentalists, the implementation of the project suffered many difficulties and eventually the current conservation government chose the floating destination.
Krk destination diversifies supply for Croatia, which has so far been dependent on Russian gas and its own production, but also for some other central European countries including Hungary . (Reporting by Igor Ilic; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)