Filenews 22 October 2022 - by Natasha Christoforou
The process for the operation of the state-of-the-art LPG plant in Vasilikos is now in the final stretch, which will trigger the relocation of LPG companies from Larnaca. The facilities have been completed and the testing for bottling has already begun, without any problems.
As Dinos Lefkaritis, president of the consortium VLPG Ltd, in which the four companies that have facilities in Larnaca participate, told "F", the company will be able to fully operate from the Vasilikos Energy Center by the end of this month.
The arrival of the first tanker with a cargo of LPG in Vasilikos was expected on October 25, however due to the bad weather of the previous days, this was delayed and so it is expected to arrive in the first week of November. "The installation has been completed and we are already bottling with testing. We have also secured all the permits and cleared up with the ports authority all the outstanding issues we had."
For a period of one to one and a half months and until the smooth operation of the LPG plant in Vasilikos is ensured, Petrolina's facilities will be maintained in Larnaca. "We will keep some facilities so that they can operate in case we have any problem because this is a new facility and something can go wrong. It seems, however, that we will not face a problem, because we are already bottling and everything is working normally", noted Mr. Lefkaritis.
If insurmountable problems do not occur, then the companies will start dismantling their facilities in Larnaca in the near future. This process, as mentioned by the CEO of the Petrolina Group, will take three to four months and so, within the first quarter of 2023, all facilities will have been moved from the area of the Larnaca-Dhekelia road. Unlike the areas where the oil tanks of the companies existed until recently, those of the LPG terminals do not require special cleaning, since their operation has not polluted the subsoil.
It is noted that in the joint venture VLPG Ltd, participate the companies Petrolina (Holdings) Public Ltd, the Hellenic Petroleum Group, Synergas Ltd and Intergaz Ltd. VLPG will undertake all phases of LPG distribution as well as its distribution in the market, through tankers. In addition, the company will manage the bottling and maintenance of LPG cylinders, which will be available from the trading companies. The LPG plant in Vasilikos is expected to handle approximately 32,000 metric tons of bulk LPG and approximately 24,000 metric tons of bottled LPG on an annual basis.
The move of LPG companies to the Vasilikos Energy Center will be two years late due to the pandemic and other problems that arose.
The end of an era for the oil and gas installations from Larnaca, however, opens up huge prospects for development on a coastal front almost 3 km long, in which investments of hundreds of millions of euros and public works that will exceed €100 million are planned.
