January 25, 2016 [The Jakarta Post] - The country’s first mini liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, considered an ideal concept for a gas terminal an archipelago, is set to start operations in March, supplying 40 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas to Bali’s Pesanggaran power plant.
Pelindo Energi Logistik (PEL), a subsidiary of state-owned port operator Pelindo Indonesia III, has signed a contract with Jaya Samudra Karunia Group (JSK Group) to operate the Benoa LNG terminal, consisting of a floating regasification unit (FRU) and a floating storage unit (FSU).
“The first gas cargo will be delivered on March 1, but the plant will come on stream a week earlier for commissioning purposes,” said PT Pelindo Energi Logistik (PEL) director Gembong Primajaya in Jakarta on Friday.
Shunning the conventional LNG terminal that unites regasification and storage facilities, JSK Group built separate FRU and FSU for the mini LNG terminal due to limited space. “Big ships are difficult to operate in Bali, thus we created a separated system,” Gembong said.
This concept, he continued, is considered ideal for an archipelagic country like Indonesia. The time required to prepare the mini-scale floating LNG terminal is less than that for a land-based terminal.
JSK Group chief executive officer Dennis SK Jang voiced hope that the mini LNG terminal, as a pilot project in Indonesia, would be a turning point and the best solution for Indonesia in building more efficient LNG infrastructure.
“The energy shift at Benoa power plant, which previously used diesel, to LNG could save Rp 1 trillion per Rp 2 trillion a year,” Dennis said, adding that the company had spent US$100 million to build the FRU and FSU in South Korea.
