Chhara receives LNG commissioning cargo
After sitting idle for over a year, Hindustan Petroleum's Chhara LNG terminal has finally received its first cargo and is set to begin commercial operations by the end of May 2024.
Greece-flagged LNG tanker Maran Gas Mystras berthed at Chhara at 6.31pm on April 11 (2024) carrying a spot LNG cargo from Equatorial Guinea. HPCL sourced the cargo through GSPC, which in turn secured it from Swiss LNG trader Vitol.
With a 170,000-cubic metre capacity, Maran Gas Mystras left the Punta Europa terminal in Equatorial Guinea on March 26 (2024), carrying 147,940 cubic metres (66,573 tonnes) of LNG. After berthing at Chhara, work began to unload the LNG using the unloading arms on a 1.2-km jetty designed to accommodate 80,000 to 266,000-cubic metre capacity LNG tankers.
From the tanker, LNG will flow to the storage tanks through the cryogenic pipes on the jetty and will cool the gas receiving system, including the two 200,000-cubic metre storage tanks, the largest storage capacity among all Indian LNG terminals. This will take about 20 to 25 days during which time Maran Gas Mystras will remain at Chhara.
As the terminal cools to -162 degrees, Chhara will prepare for commissioning. "We are already delayed and want to keep to the schedule and avoid hiccups," says a Chhara source.
"When commissioning an LNG terminal, everything must take place with military precision." During the commissioning, LNG from the onshore storage tanks will be piped to the regasification unit for conversion to R-LNG at ambient temperature and pumped into a Gujarat State Petronet (GSPL) pipeline connecting Chhara to the state-wide gas grid.
"Some of the LNG cargo will stay in the tanks and the piping system to ensure the temperature of -162 degrees Centigrade is not lost," we hear. Maran Gas Mystras will not discharge its entire cargo but will keep some LNG onboard to maintain the temperature in its cryogenic tanks.