The authorization will be granted by the Ministry for Economic Development in agreement with the Region involved in the project. Several local and national authorities shall express their opinion on the Environmental Impact Evaluation procedure (VIA), on the observance of safety norms, and during the decisional meetings convened by the Ministry for Economic Development.

The regasifier ship will never be visible from the shore, thus preserving the coast and tourism. The onshore impact will be limited to the construction phase, which, anyway, will not take place during the tourist season. Therefore, no facilities will be visible, except for the measuring chamber which will be completely screened by a vegetation belt.

- Although the onshore intervention will absolutely not be invasive, compensation measures will be granted to the local people in compliance with the law.

- GDF SUEZ will make any effort to involve the local industrial and service sector in the provision of useful and necessary works/services for the construction and management of the plant.

Minimal presence of infrastructures

The Tritone project has a minimal environmental impact. In fact, besides the gas connection pipeline, the measuring chamber and the regasifier ship, the project does not require any other infrastructures or buildings (no storage facilities, no artificial islands at sea, etc.).
The ship will have a very low impact in space, which, in any case, will be reversible. The environmental interference of the gas connection pipeline and the measuring chamber will be limited to the construction phase.
In addition, the connection to the transportation network will be made at a minimal distance, since:

• the national transportation ridge is very close to the coast
• the LNG terminal project is located in proximity of the consumption areas

Minimization of CO2

• the seawater heat which will be used in the regasification process
• the special engines, patented by GDF SUEZ (DFDE Dual Fuel Diesel Electric), which will be used on board the ship to generate electric power by mainly burning methane (at 99%)

Safety

As provided for by the laws in force, the Preliminary Safety Analysis Report is available to the public on the Italian Ministry for Environment, Territory and Sea website: http://www.minambiente.it, and at the offices of the Italian Ministry for Cultural Assets and Activities - General Direction for Landscape Quality and Protection, Architecture and Contemporary Art - Via S. Michele 22, 00153 Rome; at the Public Relations Office of the Marches Region, in Via Gentile da Fabriano 9, 60100 Ancona; at the Province of Macerata, Corso della Repubblica 28, 62100 Macerata; at the Municipalita' of Porto Recanati, in Corso Matteotti 230, 62017 Porto Recanati.

Whoever may need to obtain news or information about any events of LNG release, risks of accidents or whatever else may be deemed necessary, can refer to the document "Preliminary Safety Raport" which is available at the above mentioned offices.

- A technology of the latest generation, a project which is different from any other else. Regasification takes place on board a ship over 34 km off the coast and invisible from the shore due to the Earth's curvature.

- A minimal environmental impact since an inexhaustible and renewable source, such as heat contained in seawater, is used to transform gas from the liquid state into the gaseous state.

- The execution of works in periods when they cannot disturb tourist activities.

- An initial regasification capacity of 5 billion cubic meters which can be extended to 10 billion cubic meters with no further works required on the gas pipelines and the measuring chamber.

- The commissioning is expected in 2012/2013. The start of construction works is expected in 2010.

- The availability of LNG stocks from the Gaz de France portfolio to ensure continuous gas supply for the project and thus a complete use of the structure.

- An unquestionable contribution to energy supply and diversification of supply sources.

No hydrocarbon releases have ever occurred since when the ships transporting liquefied gas were first used.
The 40,000 voyages made (over 160 million kilometers traveled) allow us, even from the statistical point of view, to confirm the absolute reliability of LNG transport both in terms of safety and environmental preservation.

LNG has been transported in methane tankers for over 40 years and this technology is now regarded as fully mastered.

Since the beginning, all transports have always been made using double-hulled ships, which demonstrates maximum safety in the field of LNG.

The LNG storage system in suitable holds and the cargo handling system have now achieved very high development levels.

Mooring, anchoring and gas unloading operations through appropriate buoys and offshore pipelines take advantage of the experience in the respective fields, such as oil industry, where the oil transfer methods are effectively tested even under difficult environmental conditions (Northern Sea, etc.). The structures for offshore mooring and the installation of undersea gas pipelines have been used for dozens of years both for oil and gas.

Most regasifiers are of onshore type, that is they are built on the coast, therefore all regasification and storage facilities are also onshore.

LNG's growing role in the world and the technological development have recently enabled the construction of offshore regasification terminals away from the coast.

Basically, there are two categories of offshore LNG terminals: the first one uses structures resting on the sea bottom, but it is seldom applied, whereas the second one uses floating structures.

The structures resting on the sea bottom are known as "Gravity Based Structures" (hereafter: GBS). They consist of imposing concrete facilities. In addition, due to technical and economic reasons, they require relatively shallow water, therefore they generally cannot be located very far from the coast.

For these reasons floating LNG terminals are far more suitable in the case of Italy: their location has great advantages from the point of view of market and, at the same time, it drastically reduces the environmental impact.

In 2007, throughout the world, there were 20 LNG liquefaction terminals, 58 LNG regasification terminals (27 of which in Japan and 5 in Spain) and 253 LNG ships in operation. The world leader in LNG production is Qatar, preceding Indonesia, Malaysia and Algeria. As to the importers, Japan Korea and Spain are on the lead.

The first methane drops were obtained in laboratory by the French scientist Callete and the Genevan scientist Pictet in 1877.

The characteristics and use of LNG were verified in 1917, when the first LNG plant was commissioned in West Virginia.

1940: Establishment in Cornwell (USA) of the "Hope Natural Gas Company" and operation for 4 months of the first pilot installation used to supply gas during consumption peaks. The first commercial plant to be used during consumption peaks (liquefaction/storage and regasification) was built in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1941. In January 1959, the first GNL tanker in the world, the "Methane Pioneer", transported a GNL load from Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Canvey Island, United Kingdom (7 voyages).

1964-1965 : Start of the first large-scale commercial transport chain of LNG, including:

• "Camel" liquefaction workshop in Arzew (Algeria).
• British "Methane Princess" and "Methane Progress" and French "Jules Verne" methane tankers.
• British terminal on Canvey Island and French terminal in Le Havre.

In Italy, only one regasifier has been active since the '70s, located near Portovenere (Panigaglia site), in the Liguria region.

Gas is imported from two main suppliers: Russia and Algeria, besides Norway, The Netherlands and Libya.
On the contrary, LNG can be bought in many other countries.

In 2007, the national consumption of gas was equal to 84.9 billion cubic meters (data of the Italian Electric Power and Gas Authority). In 2020, the national consumption is expected to grow, exceeding 117 billion cubic meters (data of the Italian Ministry for Economic Development), whereas in 2030 the Ministry for Economic Development foresees a demand of 127.5 billion cubic meters in the country.

Regasifiers play a critical role in energy planning, since they enable the reception of new, safe and cheap long-term supplies of gas.

Getting gas supplies by sea allows for diversification of sources and, as a consequence, for a more flexible market.

In addition, LNG may shelter the countries using natural gas from possible political risks. LNG eliminates the dependence on a single supplier (as it happens with gas pipelines); in fact, ships can obtain supplies from countries in different geographical areas.