PRESS: Gazprom delays launch of LNG-from-methane plant

MOSCOW, Jun 8 (PRIME) -- Gazprom Dobycha Kuznetsk, a subsidiary of gas giant Gazprom, has delayed the launch of Russia’s first plant for production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from methane extracted from coal layers, Vedomosti business daily reported on Thursday quoting sources.

The company started construction of the medium-sized LNG plant with a capacity of 220,000 tonnes near the Naryksko-Ostashkinskoye coal field in the Kemerovo Region in 2021, and planned to launch the first stage in 2023 and to drive the plant to full capacity in 2024.

A representative of the Kemerovo Region’s government told the business daily that the launch of the plant would happen no earlier than in 2026, and the first stage would produce only 26,300 tonnes of LNG per year. The deadline for the second stage’s launch will be defined later, the representative said.

The representative explained the delay by an update of the technological plan of the Naryksko-Ostashkinskoye coal field’s development, but the source told Vedomosti that Gazprom had raised no questions about problems with technologies and equipment during its meetings with the government of the region. The company has already drafted design documents for construction of gas pipelines, the LNG plant, the power transmission lines, and a road necessary for the first stage of the plant, the business daily reported.

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