Adani-Total’s Dhamra LNG terminal to start commercial operations at May-end

MUMBAI: Adani Group and French company TotalEnergies’ newly built Rs 6,000 crore facility to importLNGatDhamraontheOdisha coast will start commercial operations at the end of May, the Frenchfirmsaidrecently.

The5milliontonneayearcapacity terminal received its first ever shipment of liquefied natural gas – a fuel that will be used to make steel, produce fertilizers and turned into CNGandcookinggas–onApril1.

“Thisdeliveryenablesthegradual commissioning of the terminal, which is expected to start commercial operations at the end of May 2023,” TotalEnergies said in a press statement.

Karan Adani, CEO of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) – the firm that operates the Dhamra port and has leased the LNG jetty to Adani Total Private Ltd – had previously announced the receipt of the first LNG cargo. “This is a huge leap forward not only in access to clean and affordable energy but also in decarbonising India’s energy sector,” he had said earlier this month.

Adani Total Private Limited is a 50:50 joint venture between TotalEnergiesandAdani.

The commissioning cargo was supplied by TotalEnergies from its portfolioinQatar.

“With regasification capacity of 5 million metric tonne of LNG per year, theDhamraLNGterminaladdsmore than 10 per cent to India’s regasificationcapacity,strengthening the country’s position as the world’s fifth largest LNG importer and allowing it to increase the share of natural gas in its energy mix from 8 per cent to 15 per cent by 2030 to reduce its carbon intensity,” the statementsaid.

Dhamra is the only LNG import terminalineasternIndiaandonlythe second on the entire east coast. The country’s five other terminals are on the western coast (three in Gujarat, oneeachinMaharashtraandKerala).

“We are pleased to have completedthefirstdeliveryofLNGto the new Dhamra LNG terminal, developed in partnership with Adani, with a cargo from Qatar. India wants to develop the use of natural gas to reduce the carbon intensity of its energy mix by replacing coal, and LNG can therefore meet the growing domestic demand. The commissioning of the Dhamra terminal reflects TotalEnergies’ ambition to support India’s energy transition and supply security,” said Thomas Maurisse, Senior Vice PresidentLNGatTotalEnergies.

After all checks, the terminal would be ready to start commercial operations with an expected 2.2-2.3 million tonne of LNG expected to be imported in the first year and a gradualramp-uptofullcapacityinthe next.