Page 11 - AsianOil Week 09 2023

AsianOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AsianOil

New Indian LNG terminal to start

operations before summer

INDIA A long overdue LNG import terminal in India government in New Delhi hopes this figure can
is now expected to begin operating by the be boosted to around 15% in the coming years
It was originally due to summer. to help counter rising emissions from coal use.
start up in September Tentative start dates for the plant coming The first cargo expected at the Dhamra ter-
2021. properly online are currently mentioning mid- minal is now scheduled to arrive sometime in
June, although as with much in Indian LNG April. Between a month and six weeks later, full
and power infrastructure in general, seeing is operational status is anticipated.
believing. “The port infrastructure at Dhamra is ready
The Adani Total facility at the ageing port to receive LNG cargoes at the terminal per the
of Dhamra in the state of Odisha on India’s east contractual specifications,” a local report quoted
coast was first forecast to be fully operational in an Adani spokesperson as saying, with little
September 2021. other detail offered.
Very real concerns do remain in some circles Adani Total is a highly influential Indian
as to the location of the latest addition to Prime energy importer, albeit currently under inves-
Minister Narendra Modi’s collection of six exist- tigation for links to fraudulent business activ-
ing LNG nationwide terminals, however. ity. The firm is famously made up of local and
Annual periods of very heavy monsoon French interests, with the Courbevoie-based
rains lasting months on end in addition to huge TotalEnergies SE owning a 50% stake in the
cyclones frequently hitting the coast often lead company.
to widespread flooding. Tidal surges of up to 7 Running the day-to-day operations, Adani
metres are not unknown. Total has already indicated in local media that
For this reason, just one other LNG termi- up to 2.2mn tonnes of LNG are scheduled to
nal, at Ennore in Tamil Nadu, is on the nation’s pass through the terminal by March, 2024.
east coast, and this is located over 1,400 km to Imports of LNG in across India have
the south-west of the new Dhamra terminal in a decreased for the last two years after seven years
much more stable weather region. of increases.
The remaining five terminals already in Much of this is put down to rising gas prices
operation are located on India’s west coast, with influenced by the war in Ukraine and the
three sited at Gujarat in the nation’s extreme knock-on effect of European nations clamour-
north-west, one in Maharashtra on the central ing to secure LNG orders wherever they can be
west coast, and another in the south-western found.
state of Kerala. COVID has not helped either, with massive
Ongoing safety checks were completed at the lockdowns across India in the past two years
end of last month according to local sources, contributing to the initial delay in opening the
with full approvals to move ahead with prepar- Dhamra terminal, which in turn saw installa-
ing for full commercial operations at the termi- tion and maintenance of local gas supply infra-
nal now stamped. structure fall by the wayside, and many Indians
When it is finally operational though, the on the east coast in particular turn to coal-pow-
5mn tonne per year (tpy) facility will be a signif- ered sources of energy.
icant boost to India’s long-term goal of increas- January may have been the turning point for
ing natural gas use nationwide. the subcontinent, though, with imports mark-
The current rate of gas use in the domestic ing their first increase since last April, according
energy mix stands at a little over 6%. The central to government statistics. ™

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