12.07.2016. In France, the first LNG tanker has docked at the Dunkerque LNG terminal jetty. With the arrival of Teekay’s Madrid Spirit, the terminal is hosting its first methane tanker along with some 130,000 cbm of LNG, originating from a liquefaction plant in Bonny, Nigeria.
After four and a half years of construction, the last few months were reserved for several test runs of the installation without gas (stress condition tests, commissioning of utilities, partially cooling with nitrogen down to -110degC).
The tank will be discharged slowly, over the course of 7 to 10 days. The LNG will gradually pass through pipes to reach reservoir 3 and then all of the gas storage installations (the other two reservoirs, pumps, compressors, and all pipework).
Over the following 10 to 15 days, gas produced from the evaporation of some of this LNG will be sent to the flare. Once cooled, the terminal storage installations will send the gas out to the GRTgaz transmission network, at a low rate initially to test each of the terminal’s units.
A second vessel is expected during the first fortnight in August, to carry out test runs of the whole system and performance tests (pump flow rates, compressors rates).
The terminal will be tested under normal usage conditions during the summer. At the end of September, it should be ready to enter into commercial operations and be made available for Dunkerque LNG customers EDF and Total.
“The arrival of the first tanker is a milestone, the fruit of dedication from all teams working on the project. It represents the end of the construction and the industrial start-up of the terminal,” stated Marc Girard, president of Dunkerque LNG.
12th July 2016
