Name of the Project
Sunrise Energy liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) import terminal.

Location
Saldanha Bay, Western Cape, South Africa.

Client
Sunrise Energy is majority owned by MOGS (60%), a subsidiary of Royal Bafokeng Holdings (RBH), with the State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (31%) and Illitha Group Holdings  (9%) as minority participants.

Project Description
The project’s terminal facilities include a multibuoy mooring (MBM) system, located in Big Bay for the docking of LPG vessels. The MBM is connected to an on-land storage facility.

The product will be offloaded from ships at the MBM and transported to the onshore terminal by a subsea and overland pipeline to the onshore terminal, where the LPG will be blended and stenched to specification, before being dispatched to customers using road/rail loading, direct cylinder filling, or a pipeline to downstream customers or storage facilities. 

Phase 1 of the Sunrise Energy terminal is for 5 500 t of storage, which includes the MBM system and will allow for the importation of up to 17 500 t/m of LPG. The project is designed in a modular way to respond to growth in demand, with an ultimate storage capacity of 16 500 t (after the implementation of Phases 2 and 3), corresponding to a throughput capacity of 52 000 t/m or 624 000 t/y.

The LPG terminal will be an open-access facility – it can be used by any gas importer, distributor or downstream user to import LPG.  This will ensure easier entry for all participants in the LPG distribution sector.

Subsequent phases will be suited for the delivery of LPG to a power generation project in Saldanha, should it be required.

Jobs to be Created
The construction portion of Phase 1 is providing about 450 jobs. Once the terminal is completed, an operational staff complement of about 60 personnel will be required.

Value
Phase 1 will cost an estimated R 1.02 billion.

Duration
On-site construction started in February 2016. Phase 1 of the terminal is expected to be fully commissioned by May 2017.

Latest Developments
The five LPG bullets in Phase 1 will be housed behind a retaining wall and be mounded once construction is complete, creating a cool and safe environment for them and, most importantly, it will prevent a boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion, or BLEVE from occurring.

The transport of the bullets was facilitated by abnormal loads and heavy-lifting company Mammoet, which used a combination of two prime movers, heavy-duty trailers and self-propelled modular transport units to transport each bullet.

An additional prime mover was also being used to ensure sufficient traction over a steep gradient of 5° at a point in the journey.

The moving of the bullets necessitated assistance and approval from logistics company Transnet National Ports Authority, as the abnormal load vehicles had to cross over numerous Transnet rail lines.

In addition, a purpose-built bridge was built over a conveyor system to allow for uninterrupted operability of the conveyor system.

The second and third phases will be undertaken once commitment from industry has been obtained and more volumes of gas are required, thereby justifying the additional investment in more LPG bullets and the associated infrastructure.

Subsequent phases will each include another five LPG bullets, thereby increasing the storage capacity of the terminal to 16 500 t, with a combined throughput capacity of 52 000 t/m.

They will also be able to provide LPG for industrial and bulk consumers and have the potential to supply gas-fired power stations in the Saldanha region.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Aveng Engineering (engineering and procurement); WBHO (onshore terminal construction); Clough Murray & Roberts Marine (marine facilities and pipeline construction); Efficient Engineering (LPG bullet fabrication); and Mammoet (transportation of LPG bullets).

On Budget and on Time?
Sunrise encountered several unforeseen delays following the start of early construction and fabrication of the LPG bullets in February 2014. The project is now back on track, with full construction that started February 2016.

Contact Details for Project Information
Sunrise Energy commercial general manager, Arthur Martin, tel +27 21 913 7000, fax +27 913 7007 or email arthur@sunrise-energy.co.za.