A consortium made up of South Korean contractor Daewoo Engineering & Construction, Saipem of Italy and Chiyoda of Japan has broken ground on a $5bn extension to a gas liquefaction plant in Nigeria.

Daewoo E&C, which owns about 40% of the project, will act as the EPC contractor for the scheme, which is located on Bonny Island in the Niger Delta, about 40km south of Port Harcourt.

The consortium was awarded the scheme in May last year, but was forced to delay work by the coronavirus pandemic.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the project, known officially as NLNG Train 7, was attended by President Muhammadu Buhari.

When complete, the Nigeria LNG facility will produce 8 million tons of LNG a year, raising output at the plant by 35%. 

According to Korea’s Pulse News, Daewoo is expecting to receive an order for another liquefaction plant on the same site in the future.