Petronets Plant in Kochi Ready For Operation

30 July 2013
Mumbai

Come August 10, two huge liquefied natural gas (LNG) tank containers will be in place to pump out liquid gas for regasification at 5 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) at Petronet’s newly-built Kochi LNG terminal. But the problem is customers are hard to find except a few nearby sources, claims A K Balyan, chief executive officer and managing director, Petronet.

Located in a fast developing suburb of Kochi, the Vypin Islands, the 5-mtpa rs 5,000 crore terminal achieved mechanical completion in December and is expected to get the first installment of gas by August 15 from Ras Gas of Qatar, which will officially mark the start of its commercial operations.

Except some customers in Kochi – a handful of power customers and BPCL’s Kochi refinery – there is no immediate demand for that gas due to the pathetic state of infrastructure. Balyan expects things to improve only after 2015 when some connectivity is expected to come by.

To overcome the situation, Petronet itself is planning to consume the gas by building a power plant in Kochi, but that too is not going to materialise before 2015.Petronet has an approval to set up a 1200 megawatt (MW) power plant in Kochi to be commissioned in three phases of 400 mw each. This is Petronet’s first venture in forward integration and power generation.

Source– http://www.dnaindia.com/money/1867458/report-petronet-s-kochi-terminal-ready-but-no-users-in-sight

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