MOL FSRU Challenger’s regasification capacity has been increased as part of an upgrade at Keppel Shipyard in Singapore
The world’s largest floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) with a storage capacity of 263,000 m3, MOL FSRU Challenger now has a nominal regasification capacity of 600M cubic feet per day (mmcfd) and maximum of 800 mmcfd, following the enhancement of the vessel’s regasification equipment. The FSRU’s original nominal regasification capacity was 540 mmcfd and maximum 720 mmcfd.
“This modification not only contributes to regasification capacity, but also increases equipment redundancy, enabling more stable operation and energy supply,” reported owner Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) in a blog post. MOL owns the FSRU jointly with Royal Vopak under an agreement signed in 2021.
The scope of the modification project included the installation of an additional vaporiser skid, medium high-pressure pump, high-pressure manifolds, power supply facility for jetty equipment and cryogenic test.
The installation of an additional vaporiser skid was key in increasing the regasification capacity of the FSRU. An additional medium high-pressure pump, used to pressurise the LNG before it is sent out to its vaporisers, was installed to cover the increased demand of LNG regasification.
MOL FSRU Challenger was fitted with additional high-pressure gas manifolds to improve its operational flexibility.
A new power supply facility was installed to provide electricity to the jetty equipment. This installation supports the island jetty design, eliminating the need for submarine cables.
Once the upgrade was complete, cryogenic testing was conducted to ensure there was no leakage from the newly installed cryogenic system. Testing was conducted with liquid nitrogen (-196°C), verifying the system’s ability to withstand the flow of LNG (-162°C).
The modifications to the FSRU were conducted by MOL to support the vessel’s deployment to the Hong Kong Offshore LNG Terminal Project. In 2019, MOL signed a long-term charter contract with Hong Kong LNG Terminal Ltd, a joint venture between Castle Peak Power Co and Hongkong Electric, to supply an FSRU, as well as jetty operation and maintenance services and port services for what will be Hong Kong’s first LNG receiving terminal, which is located at the southern waters of Hong Kong and to the east of the Soko Islands.
Built in 2017 by South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, MOL FSRU Challenger will be renamed Bauhinia Spirit and moored at the Hong Kong Offshore LNG Terminal, which will supply gas to two destinations in Hong Kong, the Black Point Power Station in the New Territories and Lamma Power Station at Lamma Island. Natural gas provided by the project will be used to generate electricity, replacing coal-fired power generation equivalent to about half of Hong Kong’s power needs. The terminal is expected to go into service in 2023.
