But other federal and local permits would be needed before the terminal can be built.
The floating LNG Storage and Regasification Unit would be moored about 8km off the coast and would be built by Moss Maritime, a global leader in LNG tanker construction, and Mexican partner Terminales y Almacenes Maritimos de Mexico (TAMMSA).
Two rival projects – a US$800m Sempra Energy onshore terminal, and a $650m ChevronTexaco platform to be secured to the ocean bed – have received the necessary approvals to start construction. But Sempra's LNG terminal is being challenged in Mexican courts and is being investigated by the Baja Californian legislature.
The Moss Maritime/TAMMSA consortium claims its floating terminal would have less impact on the environment compared to shore-based and gravity-based platforms, and could be built for as little as US$55m.
The FSRU is a steel hull vessel with Moss Maritime spherical cryogenic tanks for receiving and storing LNG, MarineLog.com reports.
“The FSRU will have a single point mooring system,” the website said.
“The regasification plant, single point mooring and connection to the pipeline will be located forward near or at the vessel's bow. The crew facilities, machinery, control and utility spaces are in the stern.”
The project's storage capacity is expected to be 4.4 million cubic feet, while the regasification facility would process additional amounts of the fuel. A spokeswoman for the consortium told the the San Diego Union-Tribune that the facility would process for other companies rather than bringin in its own LNG.
LNG would be transferred to the FSRU by a direct transfer system from an LNG carrier moored alongside the FSRU, MarineLog.com said. The LNG would be regasified onboard and transported ashore at a pressure of 80 bars via a sub-sea pipeline.
Terminales y Almacenes Maritimos de Mexico is owned by Compania Energetica de Mexico S.A. de C.V., or CEMSA, and Moss Maritime of Norway. Moss is wholly owned by Saipem/ENI.
A similar Moss-designed FSRU is being installed in Livorno, Italy
