Pluto Train 2 makes the first move

The Alevro team have successfully completed the first self-propelled modular trailer (SPMT) move for the Pluto Train 2 project, receiving a hot oil surge drum, which was shipped from Korea to Karratha. 

Alevro’s Pluto Train 2 Project Manager, Dave Muirhead said: “Over the last few months, our team of nine personnel on site have been focussed on becoming embedded with the Bechtel team, who are managing the Pluto Train 2 engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning for Woodside. 

“They’ve set up the project for success and have done an exceptional job in safely and successfully delivering the first pressure vessels for the project.” 

Over the duration of the project, 51 modules, plus general equipment will be received at both Dampier Port and Toll Supply Base and transported via SPMTs to the Pluto Train 2 site – a distance of up to 4kms.  

The team on site will grow as larger modules begin to arrive in early 2024. The modules range in weight from 50 tonnes to some of the largest to be received and transported on Australian shores, at up to approximately 4,500 tonnes in weight, 64 metres long, and almost 30 metres wide. 

“To put that into perspective, the largest modules we’ve moved through this path previously were 180 tonnes and 16 metres wide. For Pluto Train 2, we are talking 25 times the size of that. 

“The engineering has been completed in house with great care and detail by our team of heavy lift specialists [in both Perth and Batam, Indonesia] and I have great confidence in the ongoing success of the Alevro team alongside Bechtel,” finished Dave.  

In addition to heavy haulage of modules, the Alevro team will undertake alternative lifting techniques to support the installation of a large 1,400 tonne column using a bespoke tower system and installation of 4,500 tonne compressor modules using a jacking system, not typically used for such projects in Australia. The first of these is expected to take place in early 2024.  

Pluto Train 2 includes the expansion of the existing Pluto LNG facility, enabling gas to be processed from the Scarborough gas fields through a second processing train, as well as plant modifications and additional domestic gas infrastructure.  

The combined construction expertise of Monadelphous with Fagioli’s global heavy lifting and shift capability position the Alevro joint venture uniquely to deliver superior outcomes for the Pluto Train 2 project.

The first large scale pressure vessel making its entrance into Pluto Train 2 via SPMT

The hot oil surge drum being unloaded at the Port of Dampier.