Japan’s city gas supplier and LNG importer, Tokyo Gas, and its partners have launched the Niihama LNG import terminal on Shikoku island.
Tokyo Gas Engineering Solutions, a unit of Tokyo Gas, holds a 50.1 percent share in the Niihama LNG JV. The other partners include Shikoku Electric Power, Sumitomo Chemical Company, Sumitomo Joint Electric Power, and Shikoku Gas.
According to a joint statement on Wednesday, the JV completed the construction and the trial operation of the new LNG import facility.
The facility has one LNG storage tank with a capacity of 230,000 kiloliters, one jetty, as well as a truck loading facility, the statement said. GIIGNL data shows it has a regasification capacity of 1 mtpa.
Also, the facility supplies regasified LNG to Sumitomo Chemical’s Ehime plant but the partners also plan to begin distributing the fuel to nearby industry sectors in March.
Besides the Ehime plant, the new terminal will supply regasified LNG the new 150 MW CCGT Niihama Kita power plant operated by Sumitomo Joint Electric Powers and scheduled to come online in 2022.
The launch of the new LNG import facility follows the arrival of the 145,000-cbm LNG carrier Energy Progress from Australia in January, the statement said.
Tokyo Gas Engineering Solutions and partners founded Niihama LNG joint venture in 2018.
Its parent Tokyo Gas recently said it had decided to issue a transition bond in order to fund its three projects, including the Nihama LNG terminal.