- Title: AT SEA/ISRAEL: Israel's back-up gas supply floats far offshore
- Date: 31st January 2014
- Summary: MEDITERRANEAN SEA (RECENT) (REUTERS) LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS TANKER "EXCELLENCE" AT SEA SEA WATER EXCELLENCE AT SEA DECK OF EXCELLENCE ISRAEL FLAG ON TANKER PIPES ON DECK GAS TANKER WORKERS SITTING IN FRONT OF MONITORS VARIOUS OF MONITOR SHOWING DATA HADERA, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SMOKESTACKS OF ISRAEL ELECTRIC CORP (IEC) POWER STATION SMOKE RISING ABOVE PO
- Embargoed: 15th February 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Israel
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Business,Environment,Energy
- Reuters ID: LVAQCMXCGMAZR1NB6UVZZIUDECL
- Story Text: Israel's back up gas is stored in a tanker anchored in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the only country using a deep sea buoy to ensure its emergency fuel supply.
Permanently anchored in the choppy waters of the eastern Mediterranean, the liquefied natural gas tanker Excellence is in a constant state of alert, waiting for the emergency phone call that Israel needs fuel.
The only country in the world to rely on a boat for its emergency energy supplies, the unconventional system proved its worth last month when a rare snowstorm swept Israel, leading technicians to call in for help to meet the surging demand.
The gas, imported and stored onboard in liquid form, was "regassified" and pumped through a special buoy into an underwater pipeline. In less than an hour, the Israel Electric Corp (IEC) had received its badly needed boost.
Israel is near tipping point. Sometime in the next year or so, gas will surpass coal to become the main fuel for electricity production, a shift made possible by the recent discovery of huge offshore natural gas fields.
The buoy was completed a year ago for about 500 million shekels ($143 million). Separate from the exploration network, it offers a back-up in case of a spike in demand or any mishap in the single pipeline connecting the Israeli fields to shore.
A few other deep sea buoys have been built elsewhere in the world, but none are in use, officials said. Usually multi-billion dollar piers and land-based facilities are constructed to receive the liquefied natural gas (LNG).
But when militants in Egypt's Sinai peninsula blew up a cross-border gas pipeline in 2011, Israel in an instant lost vital supplies. IEC was forced to burn more expensive diesel and fuel oil and the company's already onerous debt ballooned to a whopping 70 billion shekels.
Yaron Ronai, head of IEC's gas and coal department said a more creative solution was needed to ensure a reliable gas supply.
"The quickest way to import LNG to Israel, especially into our power stations, is to connect the transportation system to a new buoy that was built by INGL (Israel Natural Gas Lines) and IEC was responsible to charter vessel with regassification capability and to contract with a supplier that will being us the LNG itself," he said.
On a clear day, four smokestacks can be seen towering above the IEC power station in the coastal city of Hadera about 6 miles (10 km) away.
Having the tanker on standby costs $100 million a year and each load costs $50-60 million, but that is by far surpassed by the savings in fuel costs, Ronai said.
It is meant to be just a stop-gap solution. Hopefully in a few years there will be more fields producing gas and a second pipeline connecting them to shore, he said, meaning the huge, red-hulled ship will no longer be necessary.
Floating so close to Israel poses security challenges. The tanker, like the gas drilling rigs nearby, could be a prime target for enemy Palestinian or Lebanese militants.
When full it carries 136,000 cubic meters of LNG, enough to provide 3,000 megawatt hours of electricity - about 20 percent of the country's total needs - for a week.
Israel's navy has invested heavily to create a defensive envelope around the natural gas operations and officials say there is a military response for any possible attack.
But much falls on the companies. They sail under a Belgian flag, but the tanker is run by Texas-based Excelerate Energy.
"We reduce the risk by being off shore," said Captain Evelyn Rogge, the ship's master.
"Because in normal conditions you will have a terminal on shore with tanks on shore, so then your liability is much higher. Now we are six miles (9.6 kilometres) off shore and we have the means to sail away. We can disconnect in emergency from this buoy in five minutes and four seconds. In a controlled way it will take about one hour-two hours, but we can leave the area if a situation develops which is not secure anymore, so this is a big advantage," she said.
A private security boat circles the tanker at all times.
Rogge said the tanker has a relatively large crew on board, heightened monitoring of the vicinity and are constantly communicating with the relevant Israeli authorities.
She would not address each specific threat, saying only that there are security challenges and that they are being met.
In an emergency, she said, the tanker can unlatch from the buoy in five minutes and set sail. Otherwise, the only time it is not on standby is during the three days it takes to refill when its cargo runs out. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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