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THE DUNKERQUE LNG TERMINAL RECEIVES ITS FIRSTB LNG CARGOE
11th july 2016

On Friday 8th July, the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker has docked at the Dunkerque LNG terminal’s jetty, thereby launching the industrial start-up of the facility.

With the arrival of the Madrid Spirit, a tanker manned by a Spanish crew from Teekay company, the Dunkerque LNG terminal is receiving its first methane tanker along with its some 130,000 m3 of LNG, originating from a liquefaction plant in Bonny, Nigeria.

After four and a half years of construction, the last few months were reserved for several test runs of the installation without gas (stress conditions tests, commissioning of utilities, partially cooling with nitrogen down to -110°C).

Everyone in Dunkirk's shipping community took care to make sure the Madrid Spirit got safely to the terminal jetty. Once the tanker is moored and connected to the discharging arm, the facility will gradually be cooled to -163°C. The tank will be discharged slowly, over the course of 7 to 10 days.

The LNG will gradually pass through pipes to reach reservoir 3 and then all of the terminal’s gas storage installations (the other two reservoirs, pumps, compressors, and all pipework). Over the following 10 to 15 days, gas produced from the evaporation of some of this LNG will be sent to the flare. Once cooled, the terminal storage installations will send the gas out to the GRTgaz transmission network, at a low rate initially to test each of the terminal’s units.

A second boat is expected during the first fortnight in August, to carry out test runs of the whole system and performance tests (pump flow rates, compressors rates).

The terminal will be tested under normal usage conditions during the summer. At the end of September, the terminal should be ready to enter into commercial operations and be made available fot EDF and Total, customers of Dunkerque LNG.

"The arrival of the first tanker is a key milestone, the fruit of faultless dedication from all teams working on the project. It represents the end of the construction and the industrial start up of the terminal”, stated Marc Girard, President of Dunkerque LNG.

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