Production train No.2 at Arctic LNG 2 plant over 80% complete
BELOKAMENKA. April 7 (Interfax) - Production train No.2 construction at the Superfacility Construction Center (SCC), Belokamenka, Murmansk Region, has topped 80%, Maxim Mikhalev, deputy head of upper level GBS module integration and mechanical equipment at Arctic LNG 2, told Interfax.
"General construction work has been completed on the second gravity-based structure (GBS 2) and mechanical equipment work is in progress," Mikhalev said.
All articulated supports for module mounting, as well as beams on which modules will be transported to their design position have been installed at GBS 2, he also said.
"The platform is now fully ready for installation of the modules," Mikhalev noted.
The SCC on Friday held a ceremony for the first LNG final weighing module ever assembled in Russia.
The module is designed for the second production train at the Arctic LNG 2 plant, and 14 modules will be manufactured for the second gravity-based structure.
"The module for drying and extracting mercury was the first one assembled in Russia. It is an important part of the technological process for preparing and reducing natural gas, as mercury corrodes aluminum equipment and pipelines that are used in cryogenic plants, which are usually intended for producing LNG," Alexander Goncharov, deputy head of the department for technical supervision for the construction of modules at Arctic LNG 2 LLC, told reporters during the ceremony.
Goncharov said that equipment and materials from domestic manufacturers, including ChZMK, VSMC, Liskimontazhkonstruktsiya, Elektromekh-SK, Uglich-cable, TechnoNIKOL, Metalkomplekt and others, were used to construct the module.
"The remaining modules are also planned to be assembled from domestic materials and equipment," Goncharov added.
The weighing procedure is necessary in order to determine the center of gravity for the subsequent adjustment of the GBS ballast system. A heavy lift skidding system is used to transport the module for drying and extracting mercury to GBS 2.
The $21.3 billion Arctic LNG 2 project envisages constructing three LNG liquefaction trains of 6.6 million tonnes per annum each, each installed on a gravity-based structure. The GBS will be towed from Murmansk to the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District where they will be used in close proximity to the Salmanovskoye field, the project's resource base.
Novatek owns 60% in the Arctic LNG 2 project, with the remaining shareholders of France's TotalEnergies , China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), as well as a consortium of Japan's Mitsui and Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC), owning 10% each.