May 5 (SeeNews) - Croatian state-owned company LNG Hrvatska has selected the European Fund for Energy, Climate Change and Infrastructure (Marguerite), Spain's Enagas and an unnamed consortium that operates a floating terminal in the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda for the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the Adriatic island of Krk, local media reported on Thursday.
The land-based terminal on the island of Krk will have an annual capacity of 4 to 6 billion cubic metres.
However, prior to signing a deal with the three companies, LNG Hrvatska will negotiate the possibility of building a second, smaller water-based terminal, news daily Novi List reported citing unofficial data. The daily added that the project for the floating terminal was the brainchild of the U.S. which recently started gas exports to Europe.
According to its website, the Marguerite fund was established with the backing of six major European financial institutions to make capital-intensive infrastructure investments and plans to target attractive long-term and stable risk-adjusted returns.
Last week, local media reported that Canadian-based Pulsar Capital and BSH Group are close to completing a deal to buy a land plot on the Croatian Adriatic island of Krk where the government has planned to build the terminal. The country's economy minister later dismissed the reports, saying the two companies' statements should not be taken seriously.
However, according to Novi List, the government does face unresolved land ownership issues which have represented a stumbling block for the terminal's construction to date.
In January, Croatia's government announced it has received seven offers from world-renowned companies or funds from the gas and financial sectors interested in developing the LNG terminal. However, in March deputy prime minister Tomislav Karamarko said that the government is considering going for a floating LNG receiving terminal instead of a land-based facility as previously planned.
Karamarko's statement came shortly after the European Investment Bank issued a statement saying it is considering providing a 339 million euro ($387.6 million) loan to LNG Hrvatska for the implementation of the project.
The terminal will include a tanker jetty to accommodate the LNG carriers, 2 LNG storage tanks with a total storage capacity of up to 360 000 m3 LNG, vaporisers and ancillary equipment, the EIB said at the time.
($=0.8746 euro)