Jane K. G.

Kristiansen,
Connect LNG, Norway, explains
why jettyless energy transfer is
the future.

I
n September 2015, the 193 member states of
the General Assembly of the United Nations
unanimously adopted the resolution ‘Transforming
our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development’. The 17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) and their 169 associated targets
aim to – amongst other things – eradicate global
poverty, achieve gender equality, foster economic
growth, protect the environment and build effective,

SDG7: Ensuring access to
affordable, reliable, sustainable
and modern energy for all
Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7)
will benefit billions of people all over the world.
Universal access to energy, increased energy efficiency
and expanded use of renewable energy by 2030 will
result in enhanced economic opportunities and jobs,
empowerment of women and youth, better education
and health, and more sustainable, equitable and inclusive
communities. Access to clean energy would boost
protection from and resilience to climate change. The
question is ‘how do we get there?’
Figure 1. Universal Transfer System (UTS®) for bunkering
of LNG, offering LNG terminals service flexibility and
additional revenue streams (Case B).
Figure 2. UTS in operation mode. The unit is unmanned
during LNG transfer.
accountable and transparent institutions. At industry level,
the SDGs provide the private sector with a lens through
which to translate global needs and ambitions into
business solutions across the value chain.
Small scale energy needs
The small scale LNG market is developing rapidly,
especially as a transportation fuel for vessels and heavy
road transport, in addition to serving power generation
in off-grid locations which are not connected to pipeline
infrastructures. The key drivers for investing in small scale
LNG are as follows:
Reprinted from January 2020
zz Environmental: CO2, SOx, NOx and particulate
emissions control.
zz Geopolitical: prevention of country or regional market
dominance to ensure energy security.
zz Economic: on paper, large scale projects can seem
less attractive to the investor, demanding an upfront
commitment of billions of Euros.
Consequently, in the period from 2018 to 2023, the
small scale LNG market is expected to grow by 7.2% CAGR,
reaching a capacity of 324 million tpy in 2023. In
comparison, global LNG market demand in 2018 was
319 million tpy.
Reality shows us that the complexities around the
implementation of small scale LNG infrastructure are
numerous:
zz Technical feasibility: small scale LNG involves a
wide spectrum of technologies, from the storage of
cryogenic LNG onshore and offshore, to the connection
of regasification plants to existing domestic gas
transmission systems.
zz Long-term versus spot markets and LNG
competitiveness versus petroleum products: LNG
pricing mechanisms do not always represent the
regional fundamentals of LNG energy requirements.
zz Demand versus supply: growing energy needs
in developing countries will demand a domestic
infrastructure which, in some regions of the world,
simply does not exist today.
zz Stakeholders: coordination and collaboration across
different business sectors and governments is required
to optimise the system architecture, both at local and
national level.
zz Land ownership, availability and acquisition costs: land
has to be cleared to make way for small scale LNG
infrastructure, such as LNG storage and regasification
facilities, in addition to gas pipelines to different
end-users.
zz Baseload cargo volumes: small scale terminals
leverage on their bigger siblings in the large scale
space.
zz National regulation and legislation: mandatory
adoption of cleaner energy sources and frameworks
which catalyse action is complex and challenging to
navigate.
zz Return on investment (ROI): investment costs for
small scale LNG carriers are higher per tonne
compared to the cost for large scale LNG vessels.
There has to be consideration for a larger end-user
reach in order to increase investment attractiveness.
And the list goes on. Fortunately, Connect LNG’s
solution for jettyless LNG transfer, the Universal Transfer
System (UTS®), can help mitigate a number of these
obstacles. Connect LNG made the UTS the world’s first
floating jettyless LNG transfer system, La Santa Maria, a
reality in 2017. Since then, there has been a scurry of
industry players dipping their toes into the jettyless LNG
market, all recognising that end-users are crying out for
cost reductions, flexibility and simplicity. Today, the UTS
remains the only existing and field proven solution for
LNG transfer utilising floating flexible hoses and a
vacuum attachment system for mooring to LNG carriers.
The initial challenge in the development of
small scale LNG is the difficulty in designing the
appropriate scale of each facility in the small scale LNG
value chain. LNG-related facilities have economies of
scale and so it is necessary to capture a broader end-user
group, as well as ensuring a diversified demand and
optimal ROI. This is particularly true in developing
economies, where demand logistics are not always fully
defined and there is insufficient data to fully assess and
forecast energy demand and its potential growth. To
alleviate this challenge, the UTS has flexibility inherently
designed into the system, which means that the platform
and supporting structures can be designed for maximum
demand, while investment for the service lines (aerial
hoses, floating cryogenic hoses, emergency release
systems, etc.) is not required until there is a clear market
overview and supplier-demand contracts are in place.
LNG as a bunkering fuel
There have been several rounds of increasingly
stringent environmental regulations being applied to
the Emission Control Areas (ECAs) of Northern Europe
and North America under the International Maritime
Organization (IMO). As of 1 January 2020, the IMO has
enforced a reduction of sulfur in ships’ fuel oil from 3.5%
to 0.5%.
One of the options for ship owners/operators is to
switch to LNG as a shipping fuel, either by retrofitting
their existing vessels, or by purchasing new,
purpose-built, LNG-fuelled vessels. The need to build
associated infrastructures to feed these ships goes hand
in hand. Since bunkering plays an essential role for each
voyage, this will have implications on the availability of
LNG as a bunkering fuel, hence LNG infrastructure along
the shipping route. Already in Europe, many ports are
working towards the adaptation of their assets to
accommodate such LNG facilities: large scale LNG
terminals are obligated to adapt to markets and have
flexible capacities to meet different demands if they are
to remain attractive. Offering bunkering through simple
integration of jettyless solutions in an existing LNG
infrastructure opens up new markets and generates
additional revenue streams.
The following describes two cases which study how
floating jettyless technology will enable businesses to
capture new markets and ensure access to cleaner energy,
thus responding to the call for climate awareness and
positive action.
Case A – small scale LNG for
energy infrastructure
Case A looks to solve the complexities of small scale
LNG supply via large scale LNG terminals, whereby LNG
from an existing large scale terminal is reloaded onto
small scale LNG carriers and shipped to small scale LNG
receiving terminals to be regasified and used as gas-fired
power generation. The terminal facility for Case A has
Innovation highlight: UTS
floating cryogenic hoses
Floating cryogenic LNG hoses enable safe transfer of LNG
from the existing terminal to small scale LNG carriers.
This technology has enabled floating LNG transfer.
� Dedicated hose in hose design.
� Integrated monitoring system allows for continuous
surveying of the transfer line from the control room.
� Operating pressure up to 20 bar.
� Diameter from 150 mm (6 in.) to 500 mm (20 in.).
� Certified by DNV GL and Bureau Veritas.
Objectives:
� Ensure LNG transfer with minimum BOG generation.
� Meet LNG offloading requirements versus safety,
flowrate and availability.
� Combine high flexibility, reliability and long service
life.
Figure 3. Connect LNG’s UTS for jettyless transfer of LNG
and other fluids.
existing jetties and onshore cryogenic pipelines, with an
LNG capacity of up to 7 million tpy. As this is an active
terminal, there must be limited interference with ongoing
operations with other vessels.
Requirements and design criteria
The key in designing a site specific UTS is to design for
adequate uptime based on the operational requirements
and environmental parameters. To start with, site location,
metocean data, LNG transfer rate and distance between
beachline and LNG carrier mooring location are analysed.
From there, a high-level feasibility evaluation is executed
in order to identify any technical/operational risks,
which is particularly relevant when there is existing
infrastructure.
The UTS design and engineering work is carried out in
accordance with CSN EN 1474 ‘Installation and Equipment
for Liquefied Natural Gas’ and relevant OCIMF and SIGTTO
guidelines. In addition to this, all subsystems are designed
according to relevant rules, regulations and guidelines,
especially from a regional perspective relating to statutory
regulations for terminal projects.
A critical element to the entire system integrity and
resultant success of any marine project is to predict the
uptime for the facility, which will be defined by the
Reprinted from January 2020
 Innovation highlight: UTS
vacuum mooring system
The UTS’s mooring system is a vacuum-based automated
mooring technology that safely holds even the largest
450 000 DWT bulk vessels and Super Post-Panamax
container vessels. It eliminates the need for conventional
mooring lines. Remote controlled vacuum pads attached
to hydraulic actuated arms extend, attach and moor ships
in a few seconds.
Such systems have successfully completed more than
500 000 automated mooring operations and, by 2020,
approximately 500 000 such operations will be made
annually.
Figure 4. Simple and field proven vacuum attachment
system accommodates any size carrier.
solution proposed and based on site specific metocean
conditions. The hydrodynamic performance of the system
is confirmed by advanced hydrodynamic models and,
combined with historical metocean data, this predicts the
corresponding uptime at the site. This ensures that the
final design is capable of operating safely and can handle
survival conditions with an associated mooring system.
The goal of this feasibility study is to generate
infrastructure alternatives in order to identify the solution
which offers flexibility to LNG demand, minimal impact to
existing infrastructure, for lowest investment. One of the
existing jetties is deemed as the most appropriate to
modify and accommodate the UTS interface with onshore
piping. The recommended solution is to branch an LNG
line off one of the existing jetties, supported by piles to
the UTS tie-in point. The floating cryogenic flexible pipes
are tied into the rigid pipe above the water and guided
into the water from a simple chute construction. The large
tidal differences at the location is a challenge for a fixed
structure interface to a vessel, so a floating transfer
system like the UTS, which follows the LNG carrier
vertically with the tide, is technically and operationally
advantageous. The transfer system can easily be stored
alongside an existing decommissioned jetty while not in
use.
Case B – small scale LNG for
bunkering
In Case B, both a traditional jetty and a jettyless
alternative are being considered. The aim of this
Reprinted from January 2020
feasibility study is to generate CAPEX estimates for both
solutions, in addition to analysing how the UTS will
perform from an operational perspective.
Three different locations are analysed, together with
site specific metocean conditions. Consideration is given
to wind and wave conditions, water depth, marine traffic,
operational frequency in the area, tie-in infrastructure
onshore and optimisation of the floating cryogenic hose
length, for both the operation and idle modes of the UTS.
The different locations are weighted in order to conclude
on the optimal mooring location. In general, Case B’s
location shows challenging metocean data, so specific
numerical models are created in order to simulate
resultant hydrodynamic effect on the UTS motion and
mooring system, including the vacuum mooring system
from the UTS to the LNG carrier, for different wave
heights, winds speeds and wave directions. The total
uptime of Case B is dominated by the wave conditions for
the jettyless UTS and is found to be 94%, while the
proposed jetty structure has 92% uptime.
The LNG bunkering market has a sense of urgency due
to the IMO 2020 sulfur cap, so bunkering capabilities along
and around major shipping routes are necessary. In this
Case B, the schedule to build and install a transfer solution
can be considerably compressed, with a UTS lead time of
12 months versus new jetty construction of 36 – 40 months.
The resultant UTS design is well within the design
parameters of the existing UTS unit, La Santa Maria.
Consequentially, cost optimisation through product
standardisation ensures a more competitive solution to a
bespoke jetty structure. The study concludes that CAPEX
savings are in the order of 60% for the UTS versus a
traditional jetty.
Conclusions
zz The relative price of small scale LNG compared with
competing fuels is a key factor in determining its
demand in the future, especially in developing and
remote areas.
zz Collaboration across geopolitical boundaries is
required. Proactive participation from regional
stakeholders on policies, regulations and permits will
simplify and incubate innovation and investment.
zz Small scale LNG Infrastructure needs to modularised.
Bespoke civil works with specialised labour force is
costly and time-consuming. Standard plug-and-play
solutions will reduce the CAPEX burden, as well as
minimising project execution risk, cost and schedule
overruns.
zz The two cases illustrated here are common across
the globe. It has been proven that jettyless versus
traditional jetty construction answers the global
climate challenge.
zz In addition to being highly cost-effective and
providing significant schedule reductions, the floating
UTS is easily transportable to solve the next energy
challenge, thus answering the needs of spot markets
and fluctuation in energy needs.