Cyprus’ hopes of importing natural gas via a floating, storage and regasification unit (FSRU) appear to be in the balance with numerous delays pushing back the government’s estimated start-up date to July 2023. The project had initially been earmarked for start-up in the Autumn of this year (MEES, 9 April 2021), but a start-up date of 2024 is more likely, if the project ever does see the light of day.
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades held a meeting in February with the relevant Cypriot stakeholders in the €500mn ($590mn) project in an attempt to iron-out any issues and get it back on track. According to local media reports Nicosia had demanded the Chinese state-led consortium that is constructing the FSRU and requisite infrastructure to reduce its fee from €100mn to €25mn, although it is highly unlikely the consortium would accept these terms considering demand for FSRUs globally is at an all-time high. (CONTINUED - 342 WORDS)
