Japan’s Soma LNG Terminal Starts Operation

Soma LNG Terminal, located in Shinchi Town in Fukushima prefecture, commenced its operation on March 28, Japan Petroleum Exploration (JAPEX) said. 

The terminal, based at the No.4 wharf of Soma Port, started commissioning in December 2017, welcoming its first LNG ship.

Soma LNG Terminal is the first large-scale LNG terminal in Fukushima prefecture, which comprises a ground-type LNG storage tank with a capacity of 230,000 kiloliters, two berths for a large ocean-going ship, a domestic vessel for receiving and shipping, LNG vaporization equipment, and LNG shipping facility.

The terminal will receive LNG from overseas and will supply LNG vaporized gas to Niigata-Sendai line via Soma-Iwanuma Gas Pipeline which commenced its operation in November 2017 and will be a base of JAPEX’s LNG satellite supply system for wider Tohoku region.

JAPEX has been awarded by Fukushima Gas Power (FGP) a contract for the management of construction works for the additional LNG storage tank with a capacity of 230,000 kiloliters and additional vaporization equipment in the terminal.

Construction works on the tank began in April 2017 and works on additional LNG vaporization equipment will commence in spring 2018. The facilities are expected to be operational in 2020 at the same time when Fukushima Natural Gas Power Plant will start operating.