In order to increase the usage of natural gas in the nation’s energy mix, Prime Minister Narendra Modi must get the LNG import terminal up and running.
The Adani Group informed Reuters that Adani Total Private Ltd will receive its first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Dhamra terminal in Odisha in April and anticipates beginning commercial operations 30 to 45 days after receiving the shipment.
The launch of the 5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) LNG import terminal, which was postponed from September 2021, is essential to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strategy to increase the proportion of natural gas in the nation’s energy mix from the current 6% to 15%.
The Dhamra project is just the second import terminal in India’s east, where the Adani Group’s first LNG import facility will increase gas demand there. The country’s western coast is home to the other five import terminals.
The Dhamra terminal is anticipated to finish safety checks and testing in February, according to Adani Total, in which French energy giant TotalEnergies SE has a 50% share. Adani Total also noted that all necessary regulatory licences have been obtained.
“The port infrastructure at Dhamra is ready to receive LNG cargoes at the Terminal per the contractual specifications,” an Adani Group spokeswoman said in an emailed response to questions late on February 23.
India’s imports decreased for the second year in a row in 2022 after rising for seven years, according to statistics from analytics firm Kpler, as its appetite was stifled by high costs brought on by Europe’s rush to replace supply from Russia with gas.
Nonetheless, imports increased for the first time in eight months in January as Asian LNG prices fell, according to government data. In the upcoming years, demand for LNG is anticipated to increase due to expanded local gas delivery.
According to the company’s chief executive, Adani Total anticipates receiving 2.2 million tonnes of LNG from Dhamra in the year leading up to March 2024.
It has a 20-year take-or-pay contract to offer regasification services for 1.5 mtpa for government-run gas distributor GAIL (India) Ltd. and 3 mtpa for state-run Indian Oil Corp.
Prasanta Patnaik