Construction on Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA’s) liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) import and storage terminal, in Saldanha Bay, has started, Sunrise Energy announced on Friday.

The TNPA-approved terminal operator started civil construction on the site on January 30 after six months of detailed engineering, design and planning, Sunrise MD Barthlo Harmse said in a statement.

Sunrise Energy, which is 49%-owned by the Industrial Development Corporation and 51% by project developers Ilitha Group Holdings, was awarded the terminal operator agreement last year by the TNPA, which granted it a concession to build and operate an open-access LPG import terminal for 30 years.

The company had started clearing the site, with bulk earthworks expected to be the first work 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 had also started at an adjacent fabrication facility, Harmse added.

The first phase of the project, which was developed to mitigate anticipated LPG market supply shortages in the Western Cape, was 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,” Harmse highlighted.

The fabrication of the LPG storage bullets by Elgin Engineering also kicked off following the arrival of 2 800 t of steel plate material from an Austrian steel mill.

“The first part of the fabrication process will be to roll the 7-m-diameter cans of the bullets, thereafter the cans and dish ends will be welded together to form a complete bullet,” Harmse explained.