In Zelenodolsk, the country's first assembly and testing complex for the production of large-tonnage liquefied natural gas compressor units has been launched. The test bench's capacity reaches 130 MW, placing it among the largest in the world. As reported by TASS, the first unit has already been manufactured for "Baltic LNG," and the unit for "Murmansk LNG" is in the final stages of assembly.
The complex is capable of testing centrifugal compressors with an operating pressure of up to 100 kgf/sq. cm. The drive can be provided by either a test bench electric motor with a power of up to 80 MW or a customer's gas turbine engine. The uniqueness of the test bench is provided by closed pipeline circuits with the ability to inject gas mixtures – CO2, nitrogen, freon, and methane. This allows for full simulation of real equipment operating conditions and confirmation of its characteristics at the level of leading global engineering companies.
The total investment in the project amounted to 10.7 billion rubles. The key customers for the new production are "Gazprom" and "Novatek." Thus, the technology, previously available only to American and Japanese manufacturers, is now fully localized in Russia, eliminating the dependence of large-tonnage LNG projects on imported critical equipment.