South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) have developed the country’s first ammonia floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in collaboration with Korea National Oil Corporation and class society Lloyd’s Register.
Awarded an LR approval in principle HHI’s ammonia FSRU will store liquefied ammonia transported from production areas and can perform regasification to supply to shipowners and operators.
The AiP follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding in December 2022 for a joint development project. HHI performed the basic design of the unit whilst KSOE developed the key equipment for the regasification system and KNOC provided technical information on the construction of domestic clean ammonia acquisition and storage infrastructure projects.
Sung-Gu Park, North East Asia president of Lloyd’s Register, said: “The development of FSRUs that can respond flexibly to the operating environment in a situation where the marketability of ammonia is increasing is an important element in the industrial value chain. It is expected that this AIP achievement will greatly contribute to leading HD Hyundai’s ammonia-FSRU technology and Korea National Oil Corporation’s ammonia business.”
FRSUs are an increasingly viable alternative to meet the growing demand for liquefied gas storage and regasification and are significantly more affordable to operate than onshore plants. Last year, Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) also completed a concept study on ammonia FSRU in collaboration with Mitsubishi Shipbuilding.
