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Wärtsilä has announced the launch of a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and regasification barge concept. This new solution is designed to provide a flexible means of meeting small- to medium-scale requirements where pure land-based LNG options are limited.

Wärtsilä's Marine Solutions and Energy Solutions businesses have combined their expertise in developing the concept. This latest Wärtsilä innovation, called the Wärtsilä Mobile LNG, has this week been presented at the Gastech conference and exhibition, which is being held in Singapore between October 27th and 30th.

According to the Finnish power source developer, the Wärtsilä Mobile LNG can easily be combined with a barge-mounted power plant with an output capacity of up to 250 megawatts (MW). Alternatively, it can be used to supply conventional land-based power plants.

"The Wärtsilä Mobile LNG solution will make LNG available to new consumer segments, and will benefit both utilities and end-users. Most especially, the flexibility of location can bring clean energy to areas that have only limited or no access to the national electricity grid," the company said.

Timo Koponen, Vice President, Flow and Gas Solutions, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions, commented: "Wärtsilä's solutions support the entire gas value chain, from drilling and production, to delivery, liquefaction, regasification, storage, and power generation. This latest innovation is one more important step towards completing our LNG infrastructure offering. Most existing facilities are geared for larger-scale users, whereas the Wärtsilä Mobile LNG offers a flexible and mobile option for small to medium requirements."

Wärtsilä added: "The Wärtsilä Mobile LNG has been developed for challenging locations where pipelines and large-scale LNG receiving terminals are not feasible, or where the quantities of LNG needed are smaller. It represents an ideal solution for shallow water areas where access for larger vessels would not be possible without major jetty constructions or dredging operations. Compared to constructing conventional land-based terminals in difficult soil conditions and areas with an undeveloped infrastructure, the barge can represent a significantly lower capital investment (capex) and faster delivery. Furthermore, being mobile, it can be easily re-located giving it a high resale value."