Isle of Grain LNG importation facility expansion

Isle of Grain LNG importation facility expansion

The theory

The UK is undergoing major changes in the way it sources its energy. National Grid has made a significant contribution to the new and diverse sources for gas through a £1 billion investment in its Isle of Grain Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in Kent.

The importation facility was first commissioned in 2005 with contracts in place with major natural gas suppliers to enable LNG to be brought into the UK from oversees – LNG is the ideal way to transport and store gas. Cooled to -161°C, its liquid form takes up 600 times less space than vapour.

LNG is imported into Grain from around the world via special vessels and the storage facility offers customers the capacity to receive and process up to 14.8 million therms of LNG, equivalent to 19.7 billion cubic metres of gas per year.
National Grid and Engineer, Procure and Construct (EPC) contractor Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I) began an ambitious expansion plan to grow the capacity of the terminal to cope with supplying 12 per cent of the UK gas demand in 2008, which has now increased to 20 per cent. NG Bailey was selected to install vital electrical and instrumentation systems required to ready the new facility for the future and provide continuity of service.

The practice

NG Bailey has effectively embedded safety and quality into its specialist engineering teams and began a long-lasting relationship at the Grain LNG terminal in 2005, delivering a range of specialist electrical and instrumentation services, under contracts for both National Grid and CB&I.

The scope of works has included 11kV transmission, high & low voltage distribution cabling, switchgear, distributed control systems, lighting and fully integrated security and CCTV.
Throughout the lifetime of the project NG Bailey has been able to provide the skills and capacity to ensure that significant milestones were successfully met.

The electrical and instrumentation installation effort required a team to work in hazardous areas, in and around live plant, with very strict permit to work procedures in place. With between 15 and 200 NG Bailey employees on site at any one time, safety was paramount and the operation meant completing around 75,000 direct labour man hours, and 100,000 indirect man hours without a single lost time accident.