The Dahej LNG import terminal located at the port of Dahej in Gujarat is India’s first LNG receiving and regasification facility operating since 2004.
The 17.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) LNG import facility is owned and operated by India’s biggest LNG importer Petronet LNG (PLL), which also operates the 5Mtpa Kochi LNG import terminal in Kerala that was commissioned in 2013.
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Petronet LNG was formed in 1998 as a joint venture company by four major Indian state-run oil and gas companies including the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and GAIL India.
Each of the four promoters holds a 12.5% equity stake, while the remaining shares are held by the Indian public.
The terminal’s LNG import capacity was increased from the original 5Mtpa to the current 17.5Mtpa in three phases. The latest 2.5Mtpa expansion was completed in June 2019. The Dahej terminal currently meets more than one-third of India’s total LNG demand.
Location and site details
The LNG import terminal is located on approximately 48ha in the southern reaches of the Dahej Port area on the coast of the Gulf of Khambhat.
Also known as the Gulf of Cambay, the Gulf of Khambhat is a 200km-long and up to 70km-wide bay on the Arabian Sea coast of India.
Dahej is a busy cargo port on the south-west coast of Gujarat, situated approximately 45km away from Bharuch.
Dahej LNG project development
Construction on the Dahej LNG project was started in 2000, while the 5Mtpa import facility commenced operation in April 2004.
The LNG import capacity was increased to 10Mtpa in 2009 and the terminal received its 1000th LNG cargo in 2013.
The engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts for another 5Mtpa expansion were awarded in 2014 and the terminal’s capacity was expanded to 15Mtpa in 2016.
The LNG import capacity was further increased from 15Mtpa to 17.5Mtpa in June 2019.
Dahej LNG terminal infrastructure
The Dahej LNG terminal has two jetties with a trestle of 2.4km each and six full containment LNG storage tanks of 160,000m3 capacity each.
Each jetty is fitted with three 16in-diameter LNG loading arms, one 10in-diameter vapour return arm, and two 36in-diameter unloading lines.
The first jetty is designed to handle up to 220,000m3 capacity LNG tankers while the second jetty can accommodate 265,000m3 vessels.
The other facilities at the terminal include a boil-off gas recovery system equipped with cryogenic compressors, send out facilities, and onsite gas turbine generators.
LNG supply to Dahej
PLL receives the LNG supply for the Dahej terminal from RasGas of Qatar under two long-term sales and purchase agreements (SPA) signed in 1999 and 2012. It received its 2000th LNG cargo from RasGas in December 2019.
Petronet LNG also signed a SPA with ExxonMobil for LNG supply to the Dahej and the Kochi terminals from the Gorgon LNG project, Australia in 2009.
Gas distribution from the Dahej terminal
Promoters GAIL India, IOCL, and BPCL are the main off-takers of regasified LNG (RLNG) from the Dahej import terminal.
The RLNG from the terminal is distributed across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and other Indian states through GAIL’s Hazira-Bijaypur-Jagdishpur, Dahej-Uran, and Dahej-Vijaipur pipeline networks as well as the Gujarat State Petronet (GSPL) pipeline network.
Contractors involved
The contractors engaged in the construction and expansion of the Dahej LNG import terminal included Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industry, Ballast Nedam International, Toyo Engineering, Itochu Corporation, and Mitsui.
