The Cypriot government has reached an agreement with the Chinese consortium CPP-Metron (CMC) for the delivery of the Etyfa Prometheas floating regasification unit to the island.
This was announced by Energy Minister Yiorgos Papanastasiou on Tuesday 22 October.
He said the unit, which was built in Shanghai for Cyprus, was still in China awaiting final certification. But as soon as the necessary documents are issued, it will be sent to Cyprus. The whole process is expected to take no more than 60 days. The minister also noted that the final amount to be paid to the CMC consortium as a guarantee has been significantly reduced. Incidentally, the Cypriot government has refused to release the additional funds requested by the Chinese consortium. As a result, the Vasiliko LNG terminal project may soon be restarted. A new contractor is being actively sought.
As a reminder, the contract for the construction of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Vasiliko was signed between the Cyprus government and an international consortium in December 2019.
The groundbreaking ceremony will take place on 9 July 2020 with the participation of the former President of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades.
The project includes a floating storage and regasification unit, a berth for the floating unit, isothermal storage tanks, an evaporation plant and an onshore pipeline. The idea was to import natural gas in liquefied form to Cyprus, where it would be regasified and used to power power plants.
Initially, the terminal was expected to be completed by the end of 2021, then the schedule was pushed back to the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023. In the end, no one could give an exact date for the completion of the facility. And in July 2024, the contractor announced the suspension of the project. According to media reports, tensions between the state-owned Natural Gas Infrastructure Company (ETIFA) and the Chinese consortium CPP-Metron (CMC) arose over the lack of clear deadlines for the construction of the LNG terminal, as well as problems with the shipment of a floating regasification unit from Shanghai to Cyprus.
Negotiations continued until 18 July, when the contractor announced its withdrawal from the project. The company condemned the non-payment of contractual remuneration and criticised the inexperience of the Cypriot party and the consultants hired by it.