The first cargo vessel, carrying liquified gas for the LNG Terminal at nearby Puthuvype from RasGas in Qatar, arrived here today.
The vessel, carrying about one lakh cubic metre of LNG, is anchored about 20 km off Kochi, port sources said. Dredging work is going on at the port and the ship would enter the harbour in another three days.
With the shipment, the Rs 4200 crore Petronet LNG terminal, with an annual capacity of five million tonnes, is all set to commence operations soon.
Besides the Kochi plant, Petronet operates a 10 million tonnes per annum terminal at Dahej in Gujarat, which it plans to expand to 15 million by 2016. It is also constructing a facility in Andhra Pradesh.
The Kochi terminal, however, will operate at just eight per cent of its capacity in the first year of operation as pipelines taking gas to customers in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are not ready. The company plans to import 4-5 shiploads of LNG at the terminal in 2013-14.
In the second year, the terminal is expected to operate at 75 per cent capacity when pipeline connecting Kochi to Mangalore and Bangalore are built. GAIL is planning to connect this pipeline to Chennai.
Kochi terminal is currently being connected to two main customers - Bharat Petroleum's Kochi refinery and fertiliser firm FACT, which are in the process of converting their facilities to run on natural gas.
