Construction has started on Transnet National Ports Authority’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) import and storage terminal in Saldanha Bay. Sunrise Energy, the TNPA approved terminal operator, started civil construction on the site after six months of detailed engineering, design and planning. Sunrise Energy, which is 51percent owned by project developers Ilitha Group Holdings and 49 percent owned by the Industrial Development Corporation and, was awarded the terminal operator agreement last year by TNPA, which granted it a concession to build and operate an open-access LPG import terminal for 30 years.
The company has started clearing the site, with bulk earthworks expected to be the first work to be completed, followed by the bulk civils, building and structural works and the marine works required for the construction of the multibuoy mooring system and subsea importation pipeline.
The fabrication of the steel storage vessels has also started at an adjacent fabrication facility. The fabrication of the LPG storage bullets by Elgin Engineering kicked off following the arrival of 2,800 t of steel plate material from an Austrian steel mill.
The first phase of the project, which was developed to mitigate anticipated LPG market supply shortages in the Western Cape, is expected to be commissioned during the second half of 2015.
The first phase of the facility will comprise an offshore ship mooring point, a subsea and overland transfer pipeline, five large mounded storage bullets with a total capacity of 5,500 t and LPG road loading facilities.
