A Floating Liquefaction Natural Gas (FLNG) on the other hand is for use at the other end of the LNG shipment chain and is stationed offshore at a loading port in lieu of a liquefaction plant / loading terminal ashore.

It operates in a similar manner to FSRU’s with the exception that the FLNG has a production unit installed onboard which treats the raw natural gas to separate methane from other gases and impurities before liquefying the natural gas to LNG.

In the above LNG value chain, the FLNG replaces the need for gas processing, liquefaction, storage and loading terminal at the load port whereas the FSRU negates the need for a receiving tank and regasification facility ashore at the discharge port.

Regasification

A discharge port / regasification terminal has:

a) LNG storage facility. This could either be tanks built ashore, or LNG vessels used for storage which
are permanently moored. Such vessels may be moored alongside a jetty or offshore and connected to the receiving terminal either to supplement existing storage or as permanent storage solutions in the absence of shore tanks. These vessels are called floating storage units (FSU).
b) LNG regasification plant. LNG regasification equipment usually consists of high-pressure pumps and vaporizers and is generally installed ashore. LNG stored in the tanks is regasified here to natural gas and pumped through the gas distribution network to be used as feed fuel for power generation, or connected directly to the shore grid for domestic purposes. But where an FSRU is used instead of shore-based equipment, the regasification equipment is installed on board the FSRU itself. The FSRU also provides a storage solution in addition to re-gasifying the stored LNG to natural gas.
c) A jetty for mooring the LNG vessel. This LNG vessel may well be the supplying LNG tanker that discharges LNG into the shore tanks or into the FSU / FSRU that permanently sits alongside the jetty, in which case the supplying LNG tanker sits alongside
the FSU / FSRU.