Daewoo's World’s First Floating LNG Plant for Petronas
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering completed a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project called “floating LNG plant” for the first time in the world.
The PFLNG SATU was named at a ceremony held by Petronas, together with its strategic partners Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd (DSME) and Technip, at the DSME shipyard here in Okpo, South Korea.
The FLNG was named “Satu” which means “first” in the Malay language. Satu, located on E3 Berth of the Okpo Shipyard, is the world’s first such installation which is capable of exploiting natural gas from deep sea, as well as refining, liquefying, storing, and stevedoring.
The vessel, which is designed to produce 1.2 mtpa of LNG, is expected to be ready for sail away in the second quarter of 2016. Featuring a length of 300 meters and a width of 60 meters, the vessel will be able to store some 177,000 cubic meters of LNG.
Petronas’ President and Group CEO, Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said that the floating LNG facility signified a breakthrough achievement not only for the company but also for Malaysia.
“The PFLNG SATU is a testament to the engineering capabilities of PETRONAS and its partners. Today, we have pushed the boundaries and turned our technological aspirations of having an LNG plant on a floating vessel into reality,” added Datuk Wan Zulkiflee.
The PFLNG SATU will be moored at Malaysia’s Kanowit gas field, 180 kilometres offshore Sarawak, and has the capacity to produce 1.2 million tonnes of LNG annually.
The floating LNG facility is expected to change the landscape of the LNG business where the liquefaction, production, storage and offloading processes of LNG – previously only possible at onshore plants – will now be able to be carried out hundreds of kilometres away from land and closer to the offshore gas fields.