Woodside’s first Scarborough modules arrive

The first Indonesia-built modules for a second LNG production train at Woodside Energy’s Pluto plant have arrived at Karratha, in a milestone for the company’s Scarborough project.

The Bechtel-built modules are the first of 51 that will be built offshore and transported to site to make up Pluto train 2.

The remainder will be imported over the course of 2024.

The second train at Pluto will process liquefied natural gas from the Scarborough development, which is slated for first production in 2026.

Woodside chief executive Meg O'Neill said the arrival of the shipment, with a combined weight of more than 4,000 tonnes, was a key milestone in Scarborough’s development.

“The safe and timely arrival of the module is testament to the hard work and dedication of the Woodside team and our lead contractor Bechtel,” she said.

“With the Scarborough energy project sitting at more than fifty-five per cent complete, we are making significant progress across all scopes of work and look forward to receiving the remaining modules on site throughout 2024.”

Bechtel started construction activities on Pluto train 2 in November 2021, and module assembly began in September 2023.

Bechtel energy president Paul Marsden said the work on the modules was part of an ambition to create a “lasting impact on the communities where we live and work”.

More than 3,000 staff are engaged in the construction of the modules in Batam, Indonesia, according to a LinkedIn post by Ms O'Neill last year.

The same number are expected to be engaged in Australia during Scarborough’s construction, according to a study by ACIL Allen.

Once complete, the second Pluto train will have LNG processing capacity of around five million tonnes per annum, with the first train to be modified to process an additional three million tonnes per annum from Scarborough each year.

Woodside said additional domestic gas infrastructure would also be installed at the Pluto facility, increasing the plant’s domestic gas capacity to 225 terajoules per day.

It has a long-term gas sales and purchase agreement with Perdaman to supply 130TJ of gas to its urea plant, also under development near Karratha.