Inpex: power on at Ichthys LNG CPF, FPSO

The Inpex-led Ichthys LNG project on Friday started up main power generators for the central processing facility (CPF) and floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) at the respective South Korean shipyards.

The CPF’s three generators run by 25-megawattt dual-fuel gas turbines energized the facility’s distribution network at Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Geoje, Inpex said in its statement.

FPSO’s main turbo-generators were started up earlier, on July 28, at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering yard in Okpo.

With the two milestones, the commissioning of the two facilities is “well underway”, according to the Ichthys project managing director Louis Bon.

Following the firing of the main power generation units, the focus will now be on load testing, synchronisation and commissioning of the power distribution systems for both offshore facilities which will allow the permanent utilities on board each facility to be made fully available, the statement reads.

The CPF and FPSO will be permanently moored for 40 years of operation in the Ichthys field, located in the Timor Sea about 220 kilometers off the Western Australian coast.

Gas will undergo initial processing on the CPF to extract condensate and water and remove impurities in order to make the gas suitable for transmission.

Most condensate will be transferred from the CPF to the nearby FPSO for offshore processing, with the remainder sent to Darwin with the gas via the project’s 890-kilometre gas export pipeline.

More condensate will be extracted from the gas at the onshore plant in Darwin.

Once in the field, the FPSO and CPF will be linked by an electric cable, allowing the power supply to flow from each facility as a contingency measure as required.

The US$34 billion Ichthys project is scheduled to start production by the third quarter of 2017, and is set to have an annual LNG production capacity 8.9 mtpa.

The 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.