The Japanese oil and gas company Japan Petroleum Exploration (Japex) has started commercial operations at its Soma LNG regasification terminal in the Soma port, in Shinchi (Fukushima prefecture, Japan). The FID for the project was made in November 2013 and the facility broke ground in November 2014. The project's mechanical completion was achieved in November 2017. The facility will receive LNG from overseas, then ship gas to the Niigata-Sendai line via the Soma-Iwanuma gas pipeline, which commenced operations in November 2017.
The 1.3 bcm/year (0.96 Mt/year) Soma LNG project comprises a 230,000 m3 LNG storage tank, two berths, LNG vaporization equipment and an LNG shipping facility. The second phase, also including a 230,000 m3 storage tank, is expected to enter commercial operation in the spring 2020, when Fukushima Gas Power's 1,180 MW Fukushima gas-fired power plant will be commissioned.