The El Musel LNG terminal in Gijón has lately obtained its first LNG ship. The Cool Racer, with a capability of 174 000 m3, will perform a primary unloading, mandatory to finish the ultimate technical exams earlier than the industrial start-up of the terminal. This unloading operation can have a length between 72 – 90 hours.
As a part of the standard technical course of for this sort of start-up operation, the preliminary liquid nitrogen cooling of the infrastructure was carried out previous to the vessel’s arrival. LNG, coming from the unloading of the ship, replaces the inert fuel (nitrogen) contained in the tanks. On this approach, the tanks are progressively cooled to cryogenic temperatures, after they attain -160°C, LNG will be saved. LNG, which progressively displaces nitrogen, finally ends up being the one liquid contained in LNG storage tanks.
Earlier than pre-cooling with liquid nitrogen, the operations previous to the unloading of the LNG service have been carried out, together with the completion of the commissioning of all terminal tools.
The unloading course of is carried out as follows: entry and protected mooring of the vessel to the berth, connection and tightness exams, connection of the LNG switch arms, cooling of the unloading arms and the remainder of the tools, and circulate of the LNG to the tanks. As soon as the unloading has been accomplished, the loading arms shall be safely disconnected.
The terminal already employs 53 folks and generates round 100 extra oblique jobs. Throughout the start-up part, professionals specialised in this sort of course of have been introduced in from different Enagás terminals. The corporate is current in 9 LNG terminals as proprietor or shareholder and operator.
Furthermore, 30 June 2023 was the deadline for shippers to indicate their curiosity within the binding part of the method, which can finish in July with the allocation of long-term logistics companies, and operations are scheduled to begin with the arrival on the terminal of the primary industrial LNG service within the coming weeks, as soon as the terminal’s technical exams are accomplished.
The logistics companies supplied for this infrastructure are LNG unloading, storage, and loading operations. Underneath the regulated entry regime, El Musel terminal will solely provide minimal regasification service for the right administration of the terminal, in addition to the truck loading service.
The beginning-up of El Musel is a milestone for the beginning of economic operations of the terminal, which is a part of the federal government’s Extra Power Safety Plan, and can strengthen the safety of power provide in Europe.
The Gijón terminal might contribute as much as 8 billion m3/y of LNG capability to Europe’s safety of power provide. It is going to permit the berthing of vessels of between 50 000 – 266 000 m3, has two tanks of 150 000 m3 of LNG storage capability, two truck loading bays with a capability to load a most of 9 GWh/d, and a most emission capability of 800 000 Nm3/h.
On 28 February 2023, Enagás and Reganosa signed an settlement whereby Enagás acquired Reganosa’s 130 km fuel pipeline community and Reganosa 25% of El Musel terminal. This operation will make it attainable to benefit from their synergies and work collectively on the companies supplied by the terminal and on new potentialities for collaboration to strengthen safety of provide and advance the decarbonisation targets of Spain and Europe.
El Musel terminal obtained the Certificates of Begin-up for Testing by the Business and Power Space of the Authorities Delegation within the Principality of Asturias on 9 June 2023, following the Administrative Authorisation for its start-up by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Problem – Ministerial Order TED/578/2023, of seven June 2023 – and the approval of the particular financial regime for its logistical use by the Nationwide Fee on Markets and Competitors (CNMC) on 17 February 2023.
To finish your complete course of, the one factor that is still to be performed is to acquire the Certificates of Ultimate Begin-up from the Business and Power Division of the Authorities Delegation within the Principality of Asturias, which will likely be issued as soon as the technical exams of the terminal have been accomplished.
Learn the article on-line at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/04072023/el-musel-terminal-receives-first-lng-ship/
