Petronet to Expand Taral Gas Network in the State

KOCHI: With the prospects of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal at Puthuvype hitting the wall due to the non-completion of the pipeline network, Petronet LNG, the promoters of the terminal, are now planning to supply ‘Taral Gas’ in a big way in the state.

Taral Gas is the trade name of the LNG supplied by road tankers. In its pilot project, Petronet LNG had successfully supplied Taral Gas to HLL Lifecare plant in Thiruvananthapuram in September.At present, Petronet LNG has three trucks with a capacity of 8-9 tonnes each for the retail supply of the fuel in the state.

Talks in Progress

Also, talks are under way with around 15 companies, including private and public sector firms and SMEs which use firewood as fuel, on the Ernakulam-Thiruvananthapuram stretch for the supply of the fuel.

At present, 20 trucks of Petronet LNG are operating daily in North India, carrying fuel to various consumers from its LNG terminals in Gujarat.

“With the successful completion of the pilot project to supply Taral Gas in Kerala at HLL Lifecare, we now plan to expand the retail supply of LNG aggressively. The first supply of Taral Gas was provided to HLL Lifecare, a company which is 250 km away, purposefully to alleviate the fears of the public.

“In future too, we will try to supply Taral Gas to companies which are far from the pipeline network,” said a  Petronet LNG official.

Taral Gas will be used to run the boiler at the internal factory of HLL Lifecare instead of furnace oil. The company has set up a storage tank and regasification facility at the Thiruvananthapuram plant, spending Rs 3.5 crore to switch over to LNG mode.

“We have switched to LNG in an effort to use a cleaner fuel. The company has signed an agreement with Petronet LNG for the supply of Taral Gas for five years. When compared to the existing fuel, liquefied natural gas  is 10 per cent cheaper. The company is now fully equipped to use LNG,” said K R S Krishnan, senior vice-president (Technical), HLL Lifecare Ltd.

CNG supply

It is learnt that Petronet LNG has plans to set up auto fuel stations across the state to supply Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to vehicles.

“LNG is being supplied using trucks in many parts of the country. In order to make the terminal financially viable, the completion of the pipeline network is a must. But, in areas where pipeline network is in place, small-scale supply of LNG will be carried out using trucks. In Kerala also, many companies are likely to receive Taral Gas in the near future, if found useful,” said M P Sukumaran Nair, director, Centre for Green Technology and Management.