Keppel Readies World's First FLNG Conversion

Keppel Offshore & Marine's subsidiary, Keppel Shipyard will soon deliver the world's first converted floating LNG (FLNG) to Golar LNG.

The vessel was named Hilli Episeyo at a ceremony in Keppel Shipyard on Sunday. Upon completion, the FLNG will be put in operation offshore Kribi, Cameroon, for Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures and Perenco Cameroon, and will be the first FLNG project in Africa.

Hilli Episeyo was converted from a 1975 built Moss LNG carrier with a storage capacity of 125,000 cubic meters. Sponsons were added on both sides of the hull to house the topside equipment comprising of pre-treatment systems, four PRICO single mixed refrigerant liquefaction trains, boil-off gas compression and offloading equipment. 

The Hilli Episeyo is designed for a liquefaction capacity of about 2.4 million tons of LNG per annum.

Chris Ong, CEO of Keppel O&M said, "Compared to newbuilds, converted FLNGVs are significantly more cost-effective and faster to market, without compromising safety and processing capabilities."

Oscar Spieler, CEO of Golar LNG said, "Being at its final leg towards completion, Hilli Episeyo represents a game changer in the LNG industry with its fast track, low cost project execution.”

With the global push towards cleaner energy, demand for natural gas is expected to increase significantly. FLNG solutions enable operators to overcome the geographic, technical and economic limitations of developing natural gas resources located in marginal fields, while FSRUs help reach consumers in remote areas.

Keppel O&M converted the world's first FSRU. It is also currently building two dual-fuel diesel LNG harbor tugs based on its proprietary design and two dual-fuel LNG carriers. Keppel O&M says it has also developed FLNGs that can work in combination with floating storage units (FSU) to provide cost-effective solutions for gas export terminals and are faster to market compared to land-based terminals.

Hilli Episeyo

• Length overall: 294 meters (965 feet)
• Breadth: 62.6 meters (205 feet) 
• Storage capacity: 125,000m3
• 37,000 tons of new steel and equipment added
• 206.3 meter (677 feet) long 10.5 meter (34 feet) wide sponsons added on each side
• 8,900 tons of added steel works including new sponsons, topside and mooring structures
• 9,000 tons of process equipment installed
• 1,800 kilometers (1,118 miles) of cables pulled on board which equates to going around Singapore more than nine times