The Gravity Based Structure Platform ( CBS ) of Arctic LNG 2’s First LNG Train, weighing a record 640.000 tons, has been installed at Gydan in the Russian Arctic.
In an announcement on 16 August 2023. PAO NOVATEK announced that the LNG train on a gravity-based structure comprising the first phase of the Company's large-scale Arctic LNG 2 plant was installed on the underbase foundation on the seabed at the Utrenniy Terminal on the Gydan Peninsula. The LNG train will now be hooked up to onshore upstream facilities to complete the commissioning activities and commence liquefaction operations.
The 6.6-mtpa process train was towed by sea from the LNG Construction Center in the Murmansk Region to the Gydan Peninsula, approximately 170km and 240km from Gyda and Antipayuta rural areas respectively and 70km across Ob Bay from the Yamal LNG plan, and was installed on the underbase foundation built on the seabed near the shore.
The unique marine towing operation took only 22 days to complete. The 330 m long, 152 m wide and 90 m high platform weighs 640,000 tonnes and is the heaviest object ever moved in the history of the global LNG industry.
The train consists of topside modules with the equipment to produce and offload liquefied natural gas and stable gas condensate, installed on a concrete gravity-based structure, which accommodates LNG and condensate storage tanks.
“We passed an important milestone in the Arctic LNG 2 project having completed the marine towing of the LNG train, fully assembled at the LNG Construction Center, and its installation at the Utrenniy Terminal”, said Leonid Mikhelson, NOVATEK’s Chairman of the Management Board. “The innovative GBS-based construction concept allows us to put new LNG facilities into operation faster and with lower capital expenditures. Our LNG Construction Center in the Murmansk Region offers a unique advantage of serial LNG trains fabrication: we are now at an advanced stage of building the Arctic LNG 2 project's second train, and we are also starting the work on the third train's GBS.”
Production is expected to begin in late 2023. The Arctic LNG 2 project involves the construction of two more production lines with a capacity of 6.6 million tons per year each. The next two platforms are expected to be installed in 2024 and 2026.
According to Novatek’s CEO Leonid Mikhelson, the LNG produced at the plant will be distributed in accordance with the ownership shares. Current ownership is - NOVATEK, Russia (60%), TotalEnergies, France (10%), CNPC, China (10%), CNOOC, China (10%) and the Japan Arctic LNG, a consortium of Mitsui and JOGMEC, (10%).
Source: Novatek and Arctic Century