Bureau Veritas approves FSRU ‘Cryo-Powered’ regas system

Classification society Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore (BV) has issued the first approval in principle for a new cold energy ‘Cryo-Powered’ regas system for use in FSRU applications. 

The approval has been issued to both Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).

The ‘Cryo-Powered Regas’ system is a cold power generation technology based on the Organic Rankine Cycle – a technology used in multiple onshore LNG terminals for decades, Bureau Veritas said in its statement.

This will be the first time the system has been developed for use in a floating terminal.

During the LNG regasification process – where the liquefied natural gas at -163° warms up and changes to its gaseous state – cold energy is recovered for power generation instead of being fully dispersed back into the ocean as cold seawater. The system is targeted to reduce the fuel gas consumption and CO2 emission for FSRU approximately 50 percent by recovering approximately 70 percent of the power consumption in the regasification process at maximum rated regas flow rate.

MOL and DSME plan to test the technology in a small-scale pilot facility early in 2021 and be able to provide the technology to customers in future FSRU projects.