Kansai Electric power Co. (Kepco) has received its first LNG cargo from Australia’s Pluto project, the company announced on Monday.

Kansai Electric power Co. (Kepco) has received its first LNG cargo from Australia’s Pluto project, the company announced on Monday.

The LNG tanker left the port of Dampier on the North Western coast of Australia on 12 May, and arrived in Japan after a nine-day journey, the utility said. The Woodside Donaldson tanker delivered approximately 70,000 tons of LNG to the Himeji LNG terminal.

Kepco has a 5% stake in the Pluto LNG project and 1.75 million tons per annum (mtpa) offtake agreement ending in March 2025.

Pluto LNG is a single train plant with a 4.3 mtpa capacity in Karratha, Western Australia. Operator Woodside holds 90% and offtakers Kansai Electric and Tokyo Gas each hold 5% stakes.

Much fanfare accompanied the startup of Woodside’s Pluto project in April, with Australia’s Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson hailing it as an important landmark for Australia’s economy. The project is Australia’s third LNG export facility and adds to a growing list of LNG plants which will make Australia the world’s largest LNG exporter.

The startup also marked a significant moment in Australian-Japanese relations, which are set to tighten as gas replaces nuclear capacity in Japan. Kansai Electric, the Japanese utility second-most reliant on nuclear power, has also signed LNG supply deals with Australia’s Ichthys and Australia Pacific LNG projects.

The April launch comes after a number of setbacks in Pluto’s work schedule and budget since construction began in 2007. The project started up a full year later and A$3.7 billion ($3.8 billion) over budget, because of delays caused by weather, commissioning and technical problems, according to FACTS Global Energy.

“Discussions also continue with other resource owners regarding development of additional trains at Pluto,” Woodside said in its first-quarter results presentation earlier this month (see Scarborough reserves could ensure Pluto LNG expansion, 19 April 2012).

According to Graeme Bethune, chief executive of EnergyQuest, Pluto’s expansion hinges on new gas finds. “It all depends on whether they can source sufficient gas. Hess has long been touted as a possible source of third-party gas but continues to play hard to get. Scarborough is probably a long shot, being distant and deep. So far, exploration hasn’t delivered the necessary gas. It will take one or more of these things to fall into place,” Bethune told Interfax.[/private]