Inpex fires up Ichthys LNG power plant

The Inpex-operated Ichthys LNG project initiated the start-up of gas turbine generators at its onshore power plant near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

Speaking of the event, Ichthys project managing director, Louis Bon said that initiating the start-up of gas turbine generators is a milestone towards the start of power generation at the project’s onshore combined cycle power plant (CCPP).

“The combined cycle power plant uses gas and steam turbines together to produce up to 50percentt more electricity from the same amount of fuel compared with a traditional simple-cycle plant,” Bon said.

The waste heat from the gas turbines will be used to create steam for the nearby steam turbine system, which generates extra power.

Power and Water Corporation in the Northern Territory provided the initial gas to fuel the GTG start-up process, Inpex said in its statement on Friday.

Ultimately powered by natural gas from the Ichthys field, the CCPP will use a mix of five gas and three steam turbine generators to supply all the electricity requirements for onshore processing of LNG.

The power plant has a capacity of up to 490 megawatts of electricity, which allows LNG processing trains to cool and liquefy natural gas.

“With more than 50 percent energy efficiency, the CCPP will provide energy efficiency well above the 30-35 percent typically achieved by a standard industrial gas turbine open cycle power plant and will allow the project to use saved fuel gas to produce more LNG,” Bon said.

When fully operational the Ichthys LNG project will have the capacity to produce up to 8.9 million tons per annum of LNG, 1.65 million tons per annum of liquefied petroleum gas 100,000 barrels of condensate a day (at peak).