Greece’s Hellenic Gas Transmission System Operator (Desfa) has been awarded a contract for the operation and maintenance of the $2.9bn liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal under construction in Kuwait’s Al-Zour region, which is expected to start operating in 2021.

Desfa was one of six bidders shortlisted by the client, state-owned Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (Kipic), which is a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

The contract will last for a minimum of five years.

In a statement, the Greek company said that a key reason for its successful bid was the expertise of its stakeholders, the Italian infrastructure company Snam and the Spanish energy company Enagas.

It also said that the experience that Defsa had gained from managing Greece’s transmission system and the LNG terminal on the island of Revythousa was a factor.

The full list of companies that were shortlisted to bid was:

• Desfa (Greece)
• Elengva (France)
• Tokyo Gas Engineering Solutions Corporation (Japan) / JGC (Japan)
• Korea Gas Corporation (South Korea)
• Osaka Gas Company (Japan) / Toyo Engineering (Japan)
• Enagas International (Spain) / Reganosa (Spain)

Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, acting CEO of Kipic, Hatem al-Awadhi, said he was expecting phase one of Kuwait’s LNG import and regasification terminal to come online on 10 September 2020.

He said the second phase was due to be inaugurated on 12 February 2021.

The project has seen some delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic and it is not known to what extent plans to bring the terminal online will be disrupted.

Construction project

The main contract for the LNG terminal was awarded in 2016 to a consortium of South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering Company, Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company and Korea Gas Corporation for $2.93bn.

The LNG import terminal is being built to meet domestic demand for fuel.

The scope of the project includes marine works, such as jetties and unloading arms, and construction of an LNG terminal.

Construction of the terminal will include installing eight LNG storage tanks. Four of these will be brought online in phase one of the project and four in phase two, according to Al-Awadhi.

Each storage tank will have a capacity of 225,500 cubic metres.

The scope of the LNG terminal will also include condenser units, LNG pumps, vapourisers and fuel gas systems.

The scope of the project also includes construction of offsite infrastructure and buildings.