Turkey saw the inauguration of its first floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal last Friday.

The facility includes a jetty and onshore natural gas pipeline connecting regasified LNG from the unit to the neighboring pipeline grid. According to developer ENGIE and its Turkish construction partners, project development took 6.5 months from final investment decision to completion.

The ETKI LNG terminal was built by construction companies Kolin and Kalyon of Turkey. The facility is at Aliaga on the Aegean coast.

ENGIE committed the Neptune, one of the two FSRU of its fleet, to the project. The vessel has a capacity of 145,000 cubic meters and will act as an LNG receiving and storage facility. The Neptune vessel arrived at the terminal berth on Dec. 11 fully loaded with LNG and proceeded immediately with commissioning operations, ENGIE said. The overall infrastructure developed by Kolin and Kalyon includes the jetty and onshore gas pipeline.

The facility has sendout capacity of 20 million cubic meters per day and is expected to be “a key contributor” to the country’s natural gas supply, particularly during winter. “It will complement Turkey’s two existing onshore LNG terminals, thus enhancing the country’s diversification of gas import structures as well as supply sources,” ENGIE said. Turkey has been one of the countries receiving LNG cargos from the Cheniere Energy Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana.

ENGIE has been active in Turkey for more than 40 years, in power generation operating 1,250 MW of combined-cycle gas turbine capacity; gas distribution, via Izgaz, the country’s third-largest gas distribution network; operation and maintenance services and engineering consultancy services through subsidiary Tractebel.

ENGIE has also opened a trading office in Turkey to develop its trading and origination activities and its offers in asset optimization and risk management.