Gioia Tauro LNG Terminal

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Gioia Tauro LNG Terminal, also known as LNG Medgas, was a proposed LNG terminal in Reggio Calabria Province, Italy, which was presumed to be shelved due to a scarcity of news about the project in recent years. As of March 2022, the promoters have indicated they have plans to revive the project.

Location

The map below shows where the LNG jetty and bunkering facility would be located, at Gioia Tauro Port, in Reggio Calabria Province, Calabria Region. The LNG tanks would be located further east, on the other side of the port.

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Project Details

• Owner: LNG Medgas Terminal s.r.l.
• Parent company: Iren Group; Sorgenia
• Location: Gioia Tauro Port, Reggio Calabria Province, Calabria Region, Italy
• Coordinates: 38.46692, 15.90774 (exact)
• Capacity: 8.6 mtpa, 12 bcm/y
• Cost: €1 billion (US$1.14 billion)
• Status: Proposed
• Type: Import
• Start Year: 2026

Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day

Background

Gioia Tauro LNG Terminal is a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal in Calabria, Italy. It is a project of LNG Medgas, a joint venture of Italian firms IRIDE (a subsidiary of the Iren Group) and Sorgenia. The project would cost approximately €1 billion according to an estimate in 2022 from Iren and Sorgenia.

The environmental impact study of the project was submitted in October 2005. In March 2013, the Gioia Tauro Port Committee granted public domain for the project.

As of September 2017, the project had "progressed at a glacial pace," but was apparently not dead, with company officials still pushing for the project — and pushing for EU funds to help subsidize it.

In October 2020 Medgas Italia's 29.22% stake in the project was scheduled to be auctioned off in bankruptcy court for €6.8 million, implying that the project might still be revived. Meanwhile, as of January 2021, Italian gas distributor Snam's latest 10-year development plan (2020-2029) continues to specifically list the terminal as "authorized." With no further concrete developments since late 2017, the project was presumed to be shelved.

In March 2022, as a result of crisis moves around Europe to end imports of Russian gas following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, LNG MedGas said it was reviving plans to build the LNG import terminal in Gioia Tauro. If accelerated, LNG MedGas said, the project could be commissioned as soon as 2026. Jointly promoted by Sorgenia and Iren, the project completed the required permitting process several years ago before it was put on standby. A spokesman for Iren said of the new potential development: "We are working with the authorities to see if the permits are confirmed."

It was reported in May 2022 that the Italian government was in favour of the project.

In November 2023, Italy passed a law that deems “strategic interventions of public utility" as "non-deferrable and urgent” in Porto Empedocle LNG Terminal and Gioia Tauro LNG Terminal and would accelerate the two projects.