Porto Viro (Rovigo), September18th, 2014 – Today, Adriatic LNG celebrates the regasification terminal’s 5th anniversary of activity at its Shore Base in Porto Viro. Deputy Minister of Economic Development Claudio De Vincenti; Undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment Barbara Degani; Economy, Development, Research and Innovation Veneto Region’s Councilor Isi Coppola; Porto Viro’s Mayor Thomas Giacon, and several representatives from institutions and associations, national and international economic authorities are attending the ceremony.

Natural gas meets more than one third of Italy’s energy demand and is considered as a key resource for a more sustainable future due to its high efficiency and versatility, the wide availability of natural gas reserves and because it is less carbon-intensive of the major energy sources. In 2013 Italy consumed 70.1 billion cubic meters of gas, 89% of which was imported by pipelines or Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers. Adriatic LNG has built and has been operating the terminal located approximately 15 km off the Veneto coastline that has provided more than 10% of the overall gas domestic imports since 2009 and most of the LNG supplies of the last years.

The terminal, a unique infrastructure in the world, won the 2010 Platts Global Energy Award – an international award for technological and strategic excellence. It has a regasification capacity of 8 billion cubic meters/year. In 2013, 64% of this nominal capacity was used, compared to an average use of European terminals that is three times lower (22%), in a highly competitive environment characterized by a prolonged economic recession and weak energy demand at a European level.

Overcoming the need of a direct link with gas production areas through pipelines, the regasification terminal has allowed Italy to increase its sources of energy imports, importing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from 5 countries: mainly from Qatar but also from Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago, Guinea and Norway.

With more than 340 LNG carriers that have arrived to the terminal and more than 28 billion cubic meters of gas sent to the domestic pipeline network, equivalent to approximately 5 years of the Veneto Region’s total consumption, the Adriatic LNG terminal has played a strategic role for Italy contributing to the security of the domestic energy system, especially in situations of international crisis, such as the interruption of supplies from Transitgas and from Libya, and in the weather emergency at the end of January-mid February 2012.

Adriatic LNG is a company of international but also local excellence. Even though it is driven by a global vision and is attentive to the evolution of the global market, it is deeply rooted in the Veneto Region, for which it has been a development opportunity.
To date more than 250 million euros have been invested in contracts with about 60 companies in Veneto. Today, with the plant up and running, more than 40 companies in Veneto still have business relations with Adriatic LNG, for an overall value of 60% of the active contracts with suppliers. The company attaches great importance to the employment of local resources: out of its 125 employees – working in the headquarters in Milan, at the Shore Base in Porto Viro and on the offshore terminal – more than one third (43) are from Veneto, mainly from Rovigo and Venice.

In addition, Adriatic LNG actively participates in the economic and social development of the Polesine area. On the one hand, it has set up a fund of more than 12 million euros – managed by CONSVIPO, a Consortium for the development of the Polesine, for projects concerning fishery, the protection of the Po Delta Park, the promotion of local communities, innovation, and support to welfare policies. On the other hand, more than 2 million euros have been invested for sponsoring cultural, social, educational and sports events.