Novatek investment in Cryogas-Vysotsk LNG plant exceeds 57 bln rubles, 2nd 1.1 mln tpy train to launch by 2021
VYSOTSK. April 24 (Interfax) - Novatek has invested over 57 billion rubles in the construction of the Cryogas-Vysotsk LNG plant in the Leningrad Region, Novatek chief Leonid Mikhelson said at an official ceremony marking the loading of the first tanker at the plant, an Interfax correspondent reported from the event.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the loading ceremony by video link from the St. Petersburg's Tavrichesky (Tauride) Palace St. Petersburg, where a meeting of the Council of legislators was taking place.
"As far as I know, a second stage with capacity of over 1.1 million tonnes of LNG per year is being planned. It expected that it will be launched in late 2020," Putin said.
"There can be no doubt that the plant's future is bright. The global LNG market is growing rather quickly, actively. Demand is rising stably both in our country and abroad. I would like to highlight that Russia will gradually boost its natural gas liquefaction capacity in order to claim a respectable niche along this track," Putin said.
The Kremlin said in information for Putin's working visit to St. Petersburg that a second train of the Vysotsk plant, capacity 1.14 million tonnes per year, was already being designed and that an investment decision to build it should be reached in 2019.
"Cryogas-Vysotsk is our first medium-scale LNG project," Novatek's Mikhelson was quoted as saying in a press release. "Our marketing strategy provides for loading of bunkering vessels, small wholesale LNG sales, and LNG sales as motor fuel to the Baltics, Scandinavia and North-Western Europe markets. Natural gas used as transport fuel reduces carbon emissions and complies with new environmental standards such as the sulfur emissions reductions mandated by IMO 2020. We see potential to expand our commercial presence in this developing LNG market segment," Mikhelson said.
The Cryogas-Vysotsk project envisages construction of a LNG plant which will be supplied via the Leningrad-Vyborg- Border pipeline. The plant's first stage will have a capacity of 660,000 tonnes. Novatek is planning to add two additional stages with overall capacity of 1.2 million tonnes.
The plant uses special liquefaction technology based on a multicomponent mixed refrigerant that is a combination of various hydrocarbons with different evaporation temperatures.