The LNG Croatia company and the Norwegian company "Wärtsilä Gas Solutions" on Friday signed a €22.9 million agreement on the delivery of an additional gasification module that will enable a twofold increase of the capacity of the LNG terminal at Omisalj on the northern Adriatic island of Krk.

The new module has the capacity of 250,000 cubic metres per hour, and the deal was signed by LNG Croatia director Hrvoje Krhen and Ove Ulstein, sales and marketing director of Wärtsilä Gas Solutions.

Last August, the Croatian government decided on investing €180 million in the construction of the Zlobin-Bosiljevo gas pipeline and an upgrade of the LNG terminal on Krk island so that its capacity could be raised from the current 2.9 billion to 6.1 billion cubic metres of gas annually.

Of those €180 million, €25 million is to be invested in increasing the capacity of the LNG terminal, and €155 million is supposed to be spent on expanding the gas pipeline network.

After the agreement-signing ceremony, Economy Minister Davor Filipovic said that the new module would help raise the LNG terminal’s capacity twofold.

The manufacturing of the new module will take 22 months, and its incorporation in the current terminal is expected in the summer of 2025.

Local shipyards are likely to be engaged in this project.

Filipovic said that efforts are also being taken to upgrade the Zlobin-Bosiljevo gas pipeline so that the network could follow the increase in the terminal’s capacity.

A part of this comprehensive project has applied for funds from the European Union, and Zagreb also expects some grants. The remaining costs will be covered by the state budget and by loans.

The director of LNG Croatia said that the terminal would have to suspend its operations for no longer than 30 days during the incorporation of the module.

Upon the addition of the new module, the capacity of the terminal will rise to about 700,000 m3 per hour.

State-of-the-art technology is envisaged so that the highest environmental standards are complied with, he said.

Plinacro’s management board chairman Ivica Arar said that this gas pipeline operator had started the procedure for the procurement of equipment and pipelines and that tenders were advertised for construction works on the Zlobin-Bosiljevo pipeline, which should be finished by the end of 2025.

All that will raise the capacity of our transport system to 3.5 billion cubic metres of gas, said Arar.