Terminal de LNG de Altamira LNG Regasification Terminal - EPC

Client: Terminal de LNG de Altamira

Location: Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexico

Map showing the location of Terminal de LNG de Altamira LNG Regasification Terminal - EPC

Executive Summary

Terminal de LNG de Altamira (TLA) was the first energy infrastructure project of its kind in Latin America. It included the delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a receiving terminal from specially designed vessels. The project included two 150,000 cubic meter full-containment tanks for LNG storage, LNG re-gasification facilities and short pipelines to connect to the existing natural gas pipelines systems in Tamaulipas.

TLA serves Mexico's power authority, Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), who awarded a contract to supply 5 billion cubic meters of regasified LNG per annum over a period of 15 years to Gas de Litoral (GDL), a natural gas marketing company owned by the Royal Dutch Shell and the Total Group

ICA Fluor and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) performed engineering, procurement and construction.

Client's Challenge

To guarantee the supply of 5 billion cubic meters of regasified LNG per annum, equivalent to 3.7 million tonnes of LNG per year, TLA's challenge was to complete the terminal and regasification facilities in less than three years.

The terminal jetty berthing facilities were designed for LNG carriers from 70,000 to 200,000 cubic meters capacity, with an average unloading rate of 10,000 cubic meters per hour into two full-containment-type LNG storage tanks. The tanks had a nominal 160,000 cubic meters capacity (150,000 cubic meters net each) and 9% nickel inner tanks with suspended decks.

The LNG terminal was to receive LNG by LNG carrier, store it in aboveground full-containment tanks, then vaporize the LNG for export via pipeline. It uses seawater as the heating medium. The plant was designed for future expansion to a 1,200 million scfd peak send-out rate.

Fluor's Solution

TLA selected the ICA Fluor-IHI consortium to execute engineering, procurement and construction for the project in Altamira, a port city in the Gulf Coast state of Tamaulipas.

IHI was technical leader, and ICA Fluor was overall project manager and provider of local services. ICA Fluor, the leading industrial engineering company in Mexico, is owned by Fluor Corporation and Empresas ICA Sociedad Controladora. IHI, (Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd.) is headquartered in Japan. The contract value for the consortium was approximately $250 million.

The LNG was stored in two aboveground 150,000-cubic meter, full-containment tanks and then vaporized for export via pipeline. The vapor-handling system utilized a single centrifugal compressor with inlet guide vanes and a single recondenser, with a train-oriented HP pump and a seawater-heated open rack vaporizer configuration, to meet the maximum 70 bara, minimum 10 °C, pipeline send-out requirements.

Project execution included responsibility for complete commissioning, cool-down and start-up of all the LNG terminal facilities to process a nominal 500-million standard cubic feet per day (scfd) and peak 760 million scfd.

Engineering for the project was carried out mainly in Mexico, and construction presented regional employment opportunities for approximately 1,500 construction workers at the peak with approximately 3.6 million craft work hours.

Conclusion

The ICA-Fluor-led consortium successfully completed the first Mexican LNG regasification terminal in 2006.

Engineering on the fast-track project was performed mainly in Mexico and created employment opportunities for approximately 1,500 construction workers.

The completed facility receives shipments of LNG, gasifies the LNG and then places it into the natural gas pipelines, helping to increase the amount of natural gas available to Mexico.