Natural gas represents around 25% of energy supplies in the European Union, where it is used in particular for heating buildings and industrial facilities. With the supply of Russian gas to European countries being reconsidered, a number of projects have been launched in Europe, with the support of governments, to increase gas import capacity from other countries. However, these supplies must be made by sea, by liquefying the gas (LNG). The fastest way to regasify the gas on arrival and inject it into the national grids is to use a factory ship that needs to be connected to the onshore infrastructure.

TotalEnergies has decided to build a floating LNG terminal of this type (FSRU) in the port of Le Havre and to connect it to Engie’s gas pipeline network. To this end, Artelia has been commissioned to perform complete engineering design studies on the Group’s many industrial, maritime, safety and environmental skills. This floating unit, which can be modified according to requirements, will enable liquefied natural gas to be unloaded at a very low temperature, brought up to normal temperature under pressure and then injected into onshore storage facilities and pipeline networks. The facility is expected to cover 10% of France’s LNG consumption.