Tractebel wins Rs45cr ($10m) FEED study for Mundra
GSPC is moving closer towards construction of the Mundra LNG terminal on the Gujarat coast.
PETROWATCH learns that on July 4, GSPC awarded Tractebel the contract to carry out the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) study of its proposed new LNG receiving terminal at Mundra, at an estimated cost of Rs45cr ($10m). Journalists in Ahmedabad were last week told to attend a press conference in Gandhinagar on July 7 for the announcement, but this was abruptly cancelled at the last minute because the Gujarat state assembly is still in session.
GSPC sources tell us the formal announcement will now be made in mid-August by Gujarat state energy minister Saurabh Patel alongside senior Tractebel executives Christian Pierlot, executive vice-president (power & gas), Daniel Acheroy, LNG technical director, and project manager (Ms) Lorena Iglesias Albacete. Tractebel is already familiar with the Mundra LNG project.
In November 2008, it completed a Detailed Feasibility Report (DFR) of the port after which GSPC commissioned separate â€کseismotectonic’ studies to measure the distance of the site’s fault lines, which are nearing completion. GSPC tells us it believes the FEED study will be completed in six to nine months from now, following which the company will begin the process of finding the money to build the terminal.
“Once the FEED comes in, six more months will be needed for financial closure, tendering and EPC finalisation,†says a source. “Then construction work will start in the last quarter of 2010.
†Despite cynicism from rival LNG operators, GSPC LNG, a Special Purpose Vehicle, set up to take the project forward, is planning a 5m t/y nameplate capacity terminal to go on stream end-2013 or early 2014 with plans to ramp up to 20m t/y in phases. In May this year a team of GSPC engineers visited the Zeebruge LNG terminal in Belgium on a familiarisation tour.
“The visit was very useful,†we hear. “This is the first time the team could see firsthand how an operating terminal works.
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