The newly built, Rs 6,000 crore LNG import facility based in Dhamra on the Odisha coast, owned by the well-known Adani Group and the French firm TotalEnergies, has received its first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The fuel will be used to make CNG, steel, fertilizers, and cooking gas, transforming the entire landscape of Eastern India. The natural gas in its frozen state (LNG), which will be utilized to commission this facility, arrived in a Qatari vessel dubbed “Milaha Ras Laffan” at the port of Dhamra on 1 April.
About 45 days will be needed for testing and commissioning, after which commercial operations are expected to commence. To boost the utilization of natural gas in the nation’s energy mix from 6.3% to 15% by 2030, Narendra Modi must start the 5-million-ton-per-year LNG import terminal.
The second facility for LNG import on the east coast, Dhamra, until now, is the only one in eastern India. The other five terminals are based on the nation’s western coast (one in Maharashtra, three in Gujarat, and one in Kerala).
The cargo delivered on 1 April would be used by Adani Total Pvt Ltd, in which TotalEnergies SE and Adani Group each own a 50% stake to carry out safety and security checks and test systems. After passing inspections, the terminal will be prepared to start operations for profit, with an import of 2.2–2.3 million tons of LNG within the first year and a ramp-up to optimum capacity by the next.
On 21 March, Qatargas loaded the Milaha Ras Laffan, a ship with a capacity of 135,000 cubic meters. TotalEnergies reportedly furnished test shipments from its inventory. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and GAIL (India) Ltd. have reserved capacities at the tolling hub Dhamra.
At the terminal, LNG will be imported and transformed into gas before it gets routed to fertilizer factories and refineries. It will also be transformed into CNG and then used for driving vehicles. It will also find usage in household kitchens for cooking purposes.
It has a 20-year take-or-pay contract to offer IOC three million tons of LNG re-gasification services annually. GAIL, on the other hand, has 1.5 million tons a year.
Officials mentioned that the commissioning cargo had been delivered on Utkal Divas, the day Odisha was established in 1936. The terminal’s commissioning has officially begun, with a few steps to be accomplished within a few weeks.
The terminal will boast the capacity to berth the ultimate variety of LNG tankers throughout the year and move gas via trucks, pipelines, or reloaded vessels. It contains two of the nation’s largest storage tanks, each with a capacity of 180,000 cubic meters.
Source: Marine Insight
