SK Gas's LNG terminal in Ulsan opens for trial run

The joint venture between SK Gas and the Korea National Oil Corporation started test operations at the Korea Energy Terminal in Ulsan.

A liquefied natural gas carrier is docked at SK Gas's Korea Energy Terminal, or KET, in Ulsan. [SK GAS]

SK Gas’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Ulsan began a trial run, the company said on Monday.

The 1.2 trillion won ($869.3 million) terminal, named the Korea Energy Terminal (KET), is a joint project between the Korea National Oil Corporation and SK Gas, which holds a 47 percent stake.

The Grace Cosmos, a 65,000-ton LNG carrier, docked at Terminal 2 of the KET on April 5.

The LNG cargo from the Grace Cosmos was successfully unloaded, and will be used to fuel the Ulsan Gas Power Solution, or Ulsan GPS, in an operational trial.

SK Gas began construction in September 2022 of the 1.4 trillion won Ulsan GPS, which is a combined-cycle power plant situated near the terminal. The plant will have a generation capacity of 1.2 gigawatts, equivalent to that of a nuclear power plant, and is expected to burn about 900,000 to 1 million tons of LNG annually.

The facility is the first of its kind that can burn both LNG and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as fuels, according to SK Gas. Commercial operation will begin in the latter half of the year.

The project is part of SK Gas's transition from its previous focus on LPG to LNG.

"We are pleased that the KET, a crucial cornerstone for SK Gas’s LNG business, achieved the milestones — the first entry of an LNG carrier and unloading of its cargo,” said SK Gas CEO Yoon Byung-suk, adding that “SK Gas will fully commit to becoming a major LNG player in the Northeast Asian region by 2030.”

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]