Inpex: last Ichthys LNG modules delivered

The Inpex-led Ichthys LNG project on Monday had its final onshore modules, required to complete the construction of the onshore processing facilities, delivered to Darwin, Australia. 

The final modules, large assemblies of structural, piping and mechanical equipment, will be connected with other modules to complete the two LNG processing trains on site, Inpex said in its statement.

These trains will liquefy gas transported to Bladin Point, Darwin via an 890-kilometre gas export pipeline from the Ichthys field off the West Australian coast.

Ichthys project managing director Louis Bon said, “in total, 230 modules have arrived from the project’s four fabrication yards in Thailand, China and the Philippines.” 

He added that some of the modules weighed in excess of 5500 tons and measured more than 90 meters in length.

For the past two years, pre-fabricated modules have been delivered to the project’s module offloading facility (MOF) at Bladin Point, which enables delivery of oversized equipment, too large to be transported to the site by road.

Bon added that the arrival of the last modules means the project has entered the final phase of construction and the focus is set to move to testing, commissioning and start-up.

“The modules are key components of the project’s processing facilities, which will eventually produce up to 8.9 million tonnes of LNG and 1.6 million tonnes of LPG per annum,” Bon said.

At the end of August, Inpex said, through its social media, that construction of the LNG export project is 87 percent complete and that it remains on target for first production in the third quarter of 2017.

In September last year Inpex postponed the production start-up at its $34 billion Ichthys project until the third quarter of 2017, from the end of 2016.

The Japanese company also raised the project’s annual LNG production capacity by approximately 6 percent to 8.9 mtpa from the initially planned 8.4 mtpa.

The Ichthys project is a joint venture between Inpex, major partner Total, Taiwan’s CPC Corporation and the Australian subsidiaries of Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric, Chubu Electric Power and Toho Gas.

LNG World News Staff