Mumbai, Oct. 30 -- GAIL India is investing Rs. 6 bn to build a heating unit at its Ratnagiri liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, enabling the facility to gasify super-chilled fuel and operate at its full capacity. The unit is scheduled for completion by June 2027, according to the company's business development director, RK Singhal.
The terminal has a capacity of 5 mn tonnes per annum but is currently operating at about 50 per cent of that level because the heating unit is not ready. The new infrastructure is intended to remove the constraint and support higher throughput at the facility.
Ratnagiri LNG had previously used waste heat from a power plant operated by another entity to gasify the fuel. That power plant is no longer functional, preventing the terminal from accessing the heat required for the gasification process.
GAIL India is also constructing a small-scale captive power plant at the site. The plant will generate heat for the LNG facility and provide an additional source of energy for the gasification operation once it is commissioned.
The investment will strengthen the terminal's ability to handle LNG at its planned capacity and reduce its dependence on external heat supplies. Completion of the heating unit and the captive power plant will be important to restoring the facility's intended operating scale, subject to the construction schedule and commissioning of the new systems.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.