Calabria looks at the problem of the energy crisis in perspective by relaunching the project for a regasification plant in Gioia Tauro which, in less than 4 years, will be able to process 12 billion (even 16) cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per day. . One third of that imported from Russia. The proposal dates back more than 10 years ago, and was revised in 2015: it is headed by Lng Medgas Terminal, which has Fingas as its main shareholder, jointly controlled by Iren and Sorgenia. Iren CEO Gianni Vittorio Armani stated that the plant has already obtained all the authorizations. And the company said it was “ready to provide the resources and skills to help build the terminal.”
For the Minister of Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani this is “an excellent idea, of great interest to the government”, even if it does not solve the problem of dependence on Russian gas, the solution of which involves the almost immediate operation of two floating units for storage and regasification to be located between Piombino and Ravenna.
Located inside the rear port, in an area of 47 hectares that falls within the municipalities of Gioia Tauro, San Ferdinando and Rosarno, the Calabria regasification plant will be connected for 7 km to the network of the National Pipeline Company (Snam). A construction by modules is planned: the first in 3 years from the conclusion of the administrative procedure, which can be implemented according to the needs of the market and the development of alternative uses of liquid methane. To allow access to large tankers and direct connection to the motorway network and the railway, a deep-water unloading pier will be built, 500 meters from the coast.
“The regasification plant could be built within a short timeframe, starting tomorrow – states the governor Roberto Occhiuto – It is an opportunity to lay the foundations for building the energy policy of our country for the next decades”. Cost of the investment, between 1.3 and 1.5 billion euros. The non-postponement, the urgency and the strategic nature of the work are being evaluated: “We will ask the government to speed up the process, so that Gioia Tauro is equipped with this important work”, remarked the president Occhiuto. Moreover, the plant represents an opportunity for the whole region, configuring itself as a hub for the use of LNG in land and sea transport. The impact on employment is important: 1000 workers have been calculated on construction sites, 125 for the plant in full operation, with an induction of at least 500 workers.
The project promises to be decisive also for the activation of the Zes, with the provision of connecting a “cold plate” to the plant, capable of exploiting the energy produced by the transformation of liquid gas to carry out activities on goods that require storage refrigerated.