Site Selection for an LNG Terminal in Bangladesh

A site selection study was undertaken as part of the development of an LNG terminal in Moheshkhali, Bangladesh. The main aim was to establish the optimum location for the Terminal within this challenging area, which is affected by poor, low-lying ground conditions and extreme monsoon met-ocean conditions

Site selection is an important aspect in the overall decision making process and is the starting point of any project. As such, the process of site selection is done in a holistic view considering all aspects with suitable weightings to each of them. The first step of this process was to identify the key criteria, which includes waves, currents, water levels, shipping, navigation, dredging etc., and then allocating weightings to each. Following this, a site visit was undertaken to see first-hand the potential locations. The main purpose of the site visit was to observe all potential locations in an unprejudiced manner, independent from any previous preferences, and then to discard immediately any no-go areas.

One of the important aspects of the study was the need to understand the marine conditions in the region and its implications in developing an Onshore LNG Terminal that can provide reliable gas send out with protection against cyclones, earthquake, floods and potentially Tsunamis. A number of documents were reviewed and additional data collected and examined. GIS constraint mapping was then used to analyse and present the results of the data and a data-gap analysis was undertaken to highlight any important gaps that required to be completed in future phases of the project. This resulted in a short list of potential sites that were then further analysed using a multi criteria evaluation (MCE).

A MCE was carried out by assigning the score to each criteria and to its sub parameters, between 1 (poor) and 5 (excellent). These scores are then weighted according to importance of a particular criteria. A sensitivity analysis was then undertaken using different weighting for the criteria. To facilitate the application of the MCE an online tool was created and shared with different stakeholders, which allowed them to apply their own weightings. Based on the results of the MCE, together with the knowledge of the expert a final evaluation and recommendation of the preferred site was made.