ArcelorMittal LNG terminal plan takes shape
Three LNG terminals at one location seem overkill.
But steel maker AMNS is moving ahead with a $1.95bn plan to set up an LNG terminal near Shell's Hazira terminal and a proposed Adani terminal nearby. On October 27 (2023), the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) will organise a public hearing at 11am in the car park behind Hazira Police Station to clear the development of a deep draft captive jetty including a 5m t/y LNG terminal at Suvali village, just 10-km from Shell's LNG facility.
"The total cost of the proposed project to be completed in two phases and to last over five years is estimated to be Rs16,295cr ($1.95bn) including GST," states a 1049-page EIA submitted in September 2023. Chennai-based Cholamandalam MS Risk Services, which prepared the report, says AMNS plans to set up LNG facilities on 40 hectares.
Included in the project are two LNG storage tanks, a sea-water-based regasification unit, pumps and cryogenic piping with pipelines to supply R-LNG to the AMNS steel mill. A 450-metre berth will be equipped with an LNG handling system, including unloading arms, breasting dolphins, mooring hooks and monitoring systems designed to handle LNG carriers with capacities of 20,000 to 265,000 cubic metres.
Cholamandalam explains the "existing AMNS integrated steel plant at Hazira uses its shallow water and deep draft jetties to handle raw material and finished goods; but due to infrastructure limitations, both jetties face a bottleneck handling steel plant cargo." To overcome this and meet future expansion needs, AMNS proposes a Suvali captive jetty.
In October 2022, AMNS received environmental clearance to increase steel production capacity from 9.6m t/y to 15.6m t/y. "With the expansion," we hear, "LNG demand will rise at AMNS."
Since November 2019, when it acquired Essar Steel from the Ruia brothers, AMNS has been aggressively importing LNG cargoes at Dahej and Hazira, with 79 cargoes bought to date.