SENER grabs GATE LNG terminal contract

The private engineering and technology group, SENER, has been contracted to provide the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services at the GATE LNG terminal in Rotterdam.

The services are needed for maintenance and improvement activities, scheduled for next year.

Under this new contract, SENER will optimize the design to achieve more efficient operation and maintenance. Those modifications will improve the processes and optimize the times, as well as ensure the plant’s uninterrupted operation over the next decade.

SENER’s project manager, Antonio Parra, said, “After ten years of collecting operational data, we are going to make adjustments to the plant’s configuration with a minimum impact on the service, which will improve its operating and maintenance processes for the next decade. We are proud to have been selected by Gate terminal for this work.”

Gate terminal is a joint venture between Gasunie and Vopak. It is one of the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in Europe, and the first of its kind built in the Netherlands.

When operations began in 2011, it had three 180,000-cbm storage tanks and two jetties capable of simultaneously unloading two Q-Max vessels. With exports totaling 12 billion cubic meters per year, the terminal is able to meet one-third of the country’s natural gas consumption. Today, it has a third jetty and three loading docks for trucks.

SENER was part of the TSEV (Techin-SENER-Entreprose-Vinci) consortium, the main contractor for the plant, which was responsible for the turnkey construction of the Gate terminal megaproject, completed in 2011. SENER, together with Techint, was responsible for the EPC and commissioning of the plant. Specifically, SENER was tasked with managing the plant’s implementation, the commissioning and the start-up, as well as for engineering activities.