A floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) for a new LNG import terminal on India’s west coast is nearing delivery from South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI)
Vasant 1, the 180,000-m3 capacity FSRU, is being built for India’s Swan Energy Ltd for operation as part of an LNG import terminal at Jafrabad in Gujarat, India. Vasant 1 is the 10th FSRU built by HHI.
In describing the LNG import project in its most recent annual report, Swan Energy said the first phase of the project comprises LNG port facilities utilising an FSRU with a regasification capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum (mmtpa) and a floating storage unit (FSU) connected by ship-to-ship transfer equipment.
Swan Energy’s LNG import project was awarded on the basis of international competitive bidding and is being developed on a public-private partnership basis under the concession agreement executed between SLPL, Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) and the Government of Gujarat.
Swan Energy is the lead promoter of SLPL, holding a 63% equity stake. The other shareholders are the Government of Gujarat with a 26% interest, (made up by a 15% holding from GMB and 11% by Gujarat State Petronet Ltd), with the remaining 11% held by FSRU Venture India One Pvt Ltd, the Indian subsidiary company of Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL). MOL is the technical partner for the project, supervising the construction of the FSRU.
Swan Energy plans to operate the LNG import terminal on a tolling business model; out of 5 mmtpa capacity, Swan Energy has already executed regasification agreements aggregating to 4.5 mmtpa for 20 years with GSPCL (1.5 mmtpa) and BPCL, IOCL and ONGC (1 mmtpa each).
Swan Energy called the future of the project ‘robust’, saying all the necessary approvals and engineering, procurement and construction contracts required for project implementation are in place and the construction is progressing well. Commercial start of the project is planned for March 2022.
Gas trials for Vasant 1 were completed in May 2020, with delivery expected in Q3 2020, reported Swan Energy.
Besides being India’s first FSRU, Vasant 1 also incorporates new regasification technology. Since the delivery of the world’s first FSRU, PGN Lampung, in 2014, HHI’s Shipbuilding & Marine Business Department has been developing various new technologies with the Korea Institute of Shipbuilding and Ocean Future Technology, one of which is a new regas technology.
Introduced in 2018, the proprietary water-glycol regasification indirect heating system has been installed on three FSRUs. It uses a glycol mixture with a lower freezing point as a heat medium to significantly increase durability and safety compared to the conventional propane gas heating method, according to HHI.
Along with this, HHI recently developed a ’small- and medium-sized FSRU’ that integrates the LNG cargo operation system and the regasification system.
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