Yamal LNG: A Gas Project Like No Other

THIERRY LACAVE

Deputy Director Construction

YAMAL LNG

I'm Thierry Lacave and I'm the Deputy Director Construction for the Yamal LNG project. I'm in charge of building the LNG plant, the LNG tanks and the power plants.

YAMAL LNG: NOT YOUR ORDINARY GAS PROJECT

Yamal LNG is the first LNG plant built above the Arctic Circle. It's a world first. It consists of an airport and a port, already up and running, a unit to treat the gas, four storage tanks and a power plant.

180 HECTARES

4 x 160,000 CUBIC METERS

PRODUCTION CAPACITY: 6.5 MILLION TONS OF LNG/YEAR

To give you an idea of its size, Yamal LNG is equal in area to 250 soccer fields. It has four storage tanks 80 meters in diameter and 52 meters high. You could park two Airbus A380s in them.

The plant will eventually have a capacity of 16.5 million tons of liquefied gas a year.

YAMAL LNG: A CONSTRUCTION SITE IN AN EXREME ENVIRONMENT

The first winter, temperatures fell to -50° and felt like -67° with the wind chill factor.

I'm from the Pau region of France and in Pau, the temperature is 25°. So it takes some getting used to.

What's important under such extreme conditions is people. We're very vigilant about seeing to it that safety rules are followed, and we pay attention to personnel.

We’re inside a liquefied natural gas tank that’s been winterized.

Winterizing a tank consists of covering it and maintaining a temperature above zero inside so we can work in it year-round, even in the winter at -50°.

YAMAL LNG: A TECHNICAL AND LOGISTICS CHALLENGE

The challenge of building on permafrost is being able to install equipment on unstable ground, sand. We designed special foundations made of piles and pile caps. Pile caps are a prefabricated concrete covers placed over piles sunk into the permafrost.

The plant can't be built on site. We had to take a modular approach. It's like Lego. The modules are made in China and shipped by sea to the port of Sabetta. A multi-wheeled self-propelled transporter is used to move each one into its final position.

When I was a child, I played with Legos. Today, with Yamal LNG, I get to play with bigger Legos.

YAMAL LNG: A PARTNERSHIP BUILT ON EXCELLENCE

The main partner on this project is Novatek, a Russian company that holds a 60% interest. China's CNPC has a 20% stake. Total holds the remaining 20%.

Total has knowledge and expertise in building LNG plants, but we don't have Novatek's expertise in building in the Arctic. Our complementary skills are driving the success of this extraordinary project.

"And when do you think you will be finished?"

"In two days' time."

The project also poses a cultural challenge, being able to communicate with our Russian colleagues on technical subjects. We use an interpreter and that works perfectly.

For me, working on Yamal LNG is a unique and exciting technological and personal experience.