Facility to provide natural gas for downstream customers in the area
AG&P, the global downstream gas and LNG logistics company, has broken ground on its LNG Import Facility at Karaikal Port, Puducherry, paving the way to broader access to natural gas as a primary fuel in South India.
The Karaikal LNG Import Facility (Karaikal LNG) is expected to commence commercial operations by Q4-2021.
Owned and operated by AG&P, Karaikal LNG Import Facility is being built on a 12-hectare site within the Karaikal Port, which enjoys the only deep-water access on the East Coast of India south of Chennai, with all-weather capabilities and 24/7 operations.
Karaikal LNG, which will have an initial capacity of one million tonnes per annum (MTPA), will include a Floating Storage Unit (FSU) leased through a long-term charter agreement with ADNOC Logistics and Services (ADNOC L&S) from 2021, providing an efficient solution that will enable the supply of this clean fuel to be affordable.
Strategically located 280km south of Chennai, the capital of India’s Tamil Nadu state, the new terminal will provide natural gas to power plants, industrial and commercial customers within a 300km radius.
In addition, Karaikal LNG will serve the important city gas networks of AG&P and other city gas companies that bring CNG and LNG to vehicles and piped natural gas to households and other establishments. Truck loading bays will enable delivery of LNG to remote customers by AG&P’s own fleet of trucks.
“AG&P takes on the value chain from import of LNG through to delivery of gas to end-customers, vehicles, kitchens, large and small factories, power, restaurants and malls,” stated JM Sigelman, CEO, AG&P.
“Our goal is to bring down the unit cost of regasification terminals for smaller volumes to make LNG commercially viable for scattered and smaller customers,” remarked Karthik Sathyamoorthy, President, AG&P Terminals and Logistics.
