The proposed Shannon LNG Terminal will have a capacity of 3 MMt/a, equivalent to roughly 40 per cent of Ireland’s natural gas consumption, and a 26 km pipeline will connect the terminal to the national gas grid near Foynes on the east coast.
The need to import gas
The Shannon LNG Project is being developed in response to the growing demand for imported gas in Ireland. The Kinsale Head Gas Field, the country's only domestic source of natural gas, is nearing exhaustion. In recent years, the North Sea was the primary supply source, but now it too is becoming rapidly depleted.
An LNG terminal in Ireland will help to address the supply-demand imbalance, avoid the costs to move gas from within the UK system, and will give rise to increased competition in the local gas market, leading to downward pressure on prices.
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The pipeline
The Shannon LNG Pipeline is expected to have a capacity of 1 Bcf/d of gas.
Where the Shannon Pipeline connects to the national gas grid, a small above-ground installation (AGI) facility is required to measure and control the transfer of gas, and Shannon LNG has purchased an appropriate site for the AGI near Foynes.
In February 2009, the Shannon Pipeline received planning permission from An Bord Pleanála, and in December 2009 approval for the pipeline was granted from the Commission for Energy Regulation. Planning permission has also been secured for the terminal.
Access for the pipeline route from 72 landowners has been secured. It is expected that the pipeline will take up to one year to construct and commission, and create approximately 200 jobs.
Once completed, the Shannon Pipeline will be operated as an open-access pipeline. Shannon LNG has proposed to construct the pipeline before the terminal reaches completion so as to accommodate any third-party requirements through the pipeline.
Shannon LNG is currently acquiring all the necessary permits for the project as a whole, and construction is not expected to commence in the near future.
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