Japex starts Soma LNG terminal commissioning, first cargo on December 6

Japan Petroleum Exploration (Japex) started the commissioning of its Soma LNG terminal located at the No.4 wharf of Soma Port, Shinchi Town, Fukushima prefecture.

The project is aiming commencement of commercial operation in March 2018, following the mechanical completion of the facilities on November 30, 2017, the company said in a statement.

The first LNG ship is scheduled to arrive at the Soma Port on December 6, Japex said.

The Soma LNG terminal is a large-scale LNG terminal composed of a ground-type LNG storage tank with a capacity of 230,000 cubic meters which is one of the largest in Japan, two berths for large ocean-going LNG carriers, LNG vaporization equipment, and LNG shipping facility.

The terminal will receive LNG from overseas and will supply LNG vaporized gas to the Niigata-Sendai Gas Pipeline via the Soma-Iwanuma Gas Pipeline which commenced operation on November 1.

Furthermore, this terminal will supply LNG as a liquid based on LNG satellite system using tank trucks and domestic vessel.

During commissioning period, test operations for commercial operation commencement are being conducted with linkage between the facilities, the Soma Iwanuma line, and tank trucks and domestic vessels for LNG satellite supply.

Japex added that work on the project’s second phase, including an additional 230,000 cubic meters storage tanks and additional vaporization equipment. Construction on the second LNG storage tank began in April 2017, and the construction of additional LNG vaporization equipment is scheduled to start in the spring of 2018.

Commercial operations of the second phase are scheduled to start in the spring of 2020, the same time that the Fukushima natural gas power plant is set to be fired up.