TechnipFMC, JCG, and Chiyoda have announced the delivery of the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the Yamal project in Sabetta in northern Russia, future home of what TechnipFMC has called one of the world’s largest LNG facilities. The plant has started producing LNG from the first train, which has an annual capacity of 5.5 million tonnes.
The first shipment of 170,000 m3 of LNG left Russia on 11 December, 6 days after the Yamal facility began operations. The gas shipment was the first from Russia to the UK. Seventeen days later, on 28 December, the Christophe de Margerie Arc 7-class tanker delivered the gas to Petronas via the UK’s Isle of Grain facility. A shipment from another LNG carrier, Boris Vilikitsky, was delivered to Rotterdam on 31 December.
Located on the Yamal peninsula, the plant is the first LNG development in the Arctic. It has a planned annual total capacity of 16.5 million tons, making it one of the largest integrated LNG projects in the world. The plant will utilize the South Tambey onshore gas field reserves.
TechnipFMC fabricated 142 modules in Asia to build the plant. The company said the fabrication achieved 50 million man-hours without any lost-time injury, and that all modules were completed and delivered via the Suez Canal and the Bering Strait.
“We have completed the world’s biggest module fabrication, we have overcome the challenge to ship all modules safely and ahead of schedule in the Arctic region, despite some extreme climatic conditions and a limited navigation window, experiencing new delivery routes and, to end, we have started up the first LNG train of the plant on schedule,” Yamal Project Director Jean-Marc Aubry said in a statement.