Porto Empedocle LNG Terminal

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Porto Empedocle LNG Terminal was a proposed LNG terminal in Sicily, 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 the location of the project, in Porto Empedocle, Agrigento Province, Sicily.

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Project Details

• Owner: Nuove Energie
• Parent: Enel Global Trading
• Location: Porto Empedocle, Agrigento Province, Sicily, Italy
• Coordinates: 37.28297, 13.53774 (exact)
• Type: Import
• Capacity: 8 bcm/y, 5.88 mtpa
  • Formerly 6 mtpa, 8.16 bcm/y, 0.86 bcfd
• Cost: €1 billion (US$1.14 billion)
• Status: Proposed
• FID Status: Pre-FID
• Start Year: 2026 (originally 2015)

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

Background

Porto Empedocle LNG Terminal is a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal in Sicily, Italy. The proposal was originally developed by Nuove Energie Srl, which was bought by Enel in 2007. Enel and the regional government signed an MoU in August 2009. As of February 2011, Enel stated that it planned to have the terminal operational by 2015.

In July 2016, after years of delays, Enel announced that it was shelving the project, due to market conditions. News reports at the time indicated that Enel had recently renewed permits for the project for another 52 months and remained interested in selling the project to another buyer.

Talk of reviving the project with Chinese support briefly resurfaced in March 2019, following Chinese president Xi Jinping's visit to Sicily. However, local opposition to the project remained strong, with organizations such as Legambiente, Arci Sicilia, Cittadinanzattiva, Mareamico, Italia Nostra and Green Italia objecting to the terminal both for its environmental consequences and its potential negative impact on the tourism economy of neighboring Agrigento, which is home to Sicily's most famous Greek temples.

While there has been no news of subsequent developments, the Porto Empedocle terminal's original September 2008 permit reportedly remained in effect as of March 2019, and the project continues to be mentioned in official industry reports. The most recent 10-year plan from Italian gas company Snam lists the Porto Empedocle terminal as "already authorized", and the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL) 2020 Annual Report states that "Nuove Energie, a company owned by Enel Global Trading, continues to develop an LNG regasification terminal in the industrial area of Porto Empedocle, Sicily. With a nominal send-out capacity of 6 mtpa, the project is fully authorized."

As of March 2022, the project appeared to be shelved. It was not mentioned in the GIIGNL 2021 Annual Report. In addition, reporting in Italian media in March 2019 referred to a single Facebook message that the project would be developed, a claim which was rejected by a local mayor who said that any such proposal would be rejected by the local municipality.

As a result of crisis moves around Europe to get off Russian gas following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Enel said that it was prepared to revive the Porto Empedocle project, and claimed that the project "is fully permitted". It was reported in May 2022 that the Italian government was in favour of the project. Enel estimated that it would take approximately three years to build the project at a cost of €1 billion.

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.