NEWS
European group to revive Dabhol LNG build
Mumbai, July 18 (LNG journal)
India's state-run gas transport company, GAIL, said on Monday the European-led consortium that abandoned Enron's $2.9 billion Dabhol liquefied natural gas and power project in 2001 had now agreed to complete it by July next year.
Norway 's Kvaerner, the UK 's Whessoe, along with local construction company Punj Lyod Ltd., will complete the re-gassification tanks and other utilities for the LNG terminal with a proposed capacity of 5 million tonnes a year.
The terminal is attached to a power plant at Guhaghar in Maharashtra state on India 's west coast. The second contract for setting up marine facilities will be completed by a consortium led by Belgium 's Besix and the UK 's Kier Group, a GAIL statement said.
The European contractors abandoned construction of the LNG terminal after Dabhol ran into problems with its sole customer, the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, the statement added.
GAIL said major problems that have been holding up the project were the absence of original designs and issues relating to intellectual property rights. "With the reconstitution of the consortia, these problems have been solved to a large extent," the GAIL statement said.
GAIL and India 's National Thermal Power Corp. have formed a joint venture company, Ratnagiri Gas & Power Pvt. Ltd., to take over the assets of Dabhol Power.
