Lithuania’s MT Group is moving forward with work on the expansion of the Fluxys-operated LNG import terminal in Belgium’s port of Zeebrugge.
The Zeebrugge terminal currently consists of five tanks with a storage capacity of 566,000 cbm and a regasification capacity of about 6.6 mtpa.
Back in December 2021, MT Group won a contract from Fluxys to work on almost doubling the Zeebrugge LNG terminal’s capacity.
After that, the firm secured a new contract for mechanical, piping and structural steel work for four additional truck loading bays at the LNG terminal.
Sacyr Proyecta, a unit of Spanish construction firm Sacyr previously known as Sacyr Fluor, is also working on the expansion of the Zeebrugge LNG facility.
Truck loading bays nearing completion
MT Group said in a update this week it is making “significant progress” at the Zeebrugge terminal.
At the truck loading stations, the pipeline installation is nearing completion with 97-98 percent of the pipeline installed, according to the contractor.
Also, final equipment and specific metal structures are being assembled, including tanks, weighbridges for trucks, roofs, guardrails and platform grilles, it said.
The firm is also installing safety features such as fire-fighting equipment with pipelines designed to extinguish both foam and water.
Fluxys revealed last year that it sold out all Zeebrugge LNG truck loading capacity until 2024.
The Zeebrugge LNG import terminal currently has two truck bays with a capacity of about 8,000 slots per year.
It previously said that it plans to launch these four new bays in 2023-2024, tripling the capacity to 24,000 loading slots.
Capacity expansion
At the LNG terminal, MT Group has achieved “significant progress with 70 percent of the pipeline installation complete across all zones,” the firm said.
“Our team has also completed the installation of other equipment, including vaporizers, seawater pumps, water pumps, water filters,” MT Group said, adding that it expects to complete the remaining installation work in the coming weeks.
Moreover, metal structure installation work for the terminal’s service areas, platforms, and pipeline supports are progressing toward completion, with about 195 tons of metal structures assembled, it said.
MT Group added that there are two planned shutdown periods in May and June when the terminal will be disconnected, allowing the firm to tie into the existing pipeline network.
Fluxys previously said it aims to offer 4.7 mtpa of additional regasification capacity at the Zeebruge LNG facility as of early 2024 and the full 6 mtpa as of early 2026.