The ₹5,150-crore Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal at the Kamarajar port, Ennore, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is expected to usher a ‘green wave’ in South-Eastern India by offering natural gas as a clean and economically viable fuel, which will also help in reducing the carbon footprint.

Conceived six years ago, this is the first LNG terminal on the East Coast in South India. Tamil Nadu will be the biggest beneficiary with the LNG to be supplied to customers in Manali region and to many units right up to Ramanathapuram down South.

IndianOil, through its joint venture company IndianOil LNG Pvt. Ltd, has developed a 5-million tonnes per annum (mtpa) capacity LNG terminal.

Demand-supply

At present, there is very limited gas infrastructure in Tamil Nadu. To begin with, the terminal will meet the gas requirements of Manali area for customers such as Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd, Madras Fertilisers Ltd, Tamil Nadu Petroproducts and Manali Petrochemicals Ltd, said an IOC spokesperson.

In future, natural gas from the terminal will also be catering to the gas requirements of entire Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The terminal will supply natural gas to various consumers with IndianOil by laying a 1,244-km pipeline for evacuation of natural gas. It will pass through Manali, Thiruvallur, Puducherry, Nagapattinam, Madurai, Tiruchi, Tuticorin, and Ramanathapuram, and a separate line to Bengaluru via Hosur.

The terminal has received all necessary clearances for commissioning. IndianOil has arranged LNG commissioning cargo from Swiss Trader, Gunvor.

Commissioning cargo

The first LNG cargo was delivered through LNG ship ‘Golar Snow’ from Qatar. The ship was berthed on February 26 at the LNG jetty for commissioning of the terminal.

The Ennore LNG terminal project and associated pipeline infrastructure projects cumulatively account for investments of about ₹9,000 crore, the spokesperson said.

The terminal is part of India’s plan to enhance the share of natural gas in the country’s energy basket from the present 6.2 per cent to 15 per cent by the year 2030.

KPL’s infra support

Kamarajar Port Ltd chairman (holding additional charge) P Raveendran said KPL has allotted 128 acres of land and 362 m of water front to Indian Oil LNG — a special purpose vehicle. This is the largest single project investment in KPL, he added.

From the port side, the project consists of two sets of facilities — one in the marine side that includes jetty for berthing the LNG vessels and unloading facilities; and second is landside facilities of storage and re-gasification tank farms, which are the distribution points for the LNG through pipelines. Both the facilities are connected through pipelines.

“Kamarajar is sure to emerge as the trendsetter for other ports in East Coast, “ he said.

By adding this facility, KPL achieves an installed capacity of 62 MT and with other on-going projects and in line with business plan, KPL aims to achieve 142 MT of capacity by the year 2025, Raveendran said.

Other projects

Through a video link from Kancheepuram, Modi also laid the foundation stone for four-laning of NH-45C from Vikravandi to Thanjavur and the six-laning of Karaipettai to Walajapet section of NH-4. He also dedicated the electrification of Erode-Karur-Tiruchchirapalli and Salem-Karur-Dindigul railway lines.

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