BackMHI bags IOC contract for two LNG storage tanks at Ennore
The high-capacity LNG storage tanks will have a capacity to hold 180,000 cubic meters of gas each
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New Delhi: Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation’s largest fuel retailer, has awarded a contract to build two football stadium-sized liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks at its upcoming Ennore LNG import terminal in Tamil Nadu to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Pvt Ltd (MHI) of Japan.
“The LNG tanks will be the main facility at the first LNG receiving terminal to be constructed on India’s east coast," MHI said in a statement. This is also the first LNG storage tank order that MHI has received from India. “Construction of the tanks is slated to begin in July of this year; completion is scheduled for the spring of 2018," MHI said.
The high-capacity LNG storage tanks will have a capacity to hold 180,000 cubic meters of gas each and will be installed at a LNG terminal that IOC will build near Ennore port, about 25 kilometers north of Chennai on the Bay of Bengal. LNG imported to the terminal will be supplied as feedstock to fertiliser plants, and to utility company power generation plants for use as an alternative fuel.
Plans also call for the use of LNG as city gas in urban areas in the future. “The terminal will initially have the capacity to handle five million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA), expanding to 15 MMTPA in the future," the statement said. IOC plans to build a terminal to import gas turned into liquid at minus 160 degrees Celcius (LNG) in ships at Ennore at a cost of ₹ 5,150 crore by 2019.
Tamil Nadu government enterprise, Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDCO) has 5% stake, while IOC has 45% holding in the project. The balance 50% will be for a strategic partner like LNG supplier. Till such a strategic partner is roped in, ICICI Bank Ltd and IDFC Ltd have agreed to hold 50% interest.
Ennore will be the third LNG terminal on the east coast with state-owned GAIL India Ltd building a facility at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh and Petronet LNG Ltd proposing a 5 million tonnes facility at Gangavaram in Andhra Pradesh. India currently has four LNG import terminals, all on the west coast -- Dahej and Hazira in Gujarat, Dabhol in Maharashtra and Kochi in Kerala.
LNG is a gas that is cooled down to liquid form and takes up just 1/600th of the volume in its gaseous state, thereby easing transportation by sea. “MHI has abundant expertise in the design and construction of LNG receiving terminals, storage tanks and carriers," the statement said
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