Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.7 / Trend, E.Ismayilov /
Kulevi Oil Terminal of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) is constructing the second main railway line between Chaladidi and Kolkheti railway stations (Georgia), the terminal said on Tuesday.
According to the report, almost 50 percent of work has been completed within construction of a 5.6 km long second main railway line. At present the construction of a railway crossing at Chaladidi railway station is also underway.
"All this construction work will enable the terminal to operate more efficiently and a lot faster since so far the receipt of the freight has been carried out at the Chaladidi railway station which is 20 km away from the terminal whereas very soon it will be done at the Parto Tskali railway station that is 1.5 km away from it," the report says.
This project is very vital as far as the environmental and ecological issues are concerned.
The electrification of the railway approach line till Parto Tskali railway station will essentially affect the minimization of the environmental pollution. Owing to this improvement, diesel locomotives passage through the sensitive territories like Kolkheti National park will be eliminated, which also will contribute to the elimination of combustion gases emission to the atmosphere. On the other hand, the usage of electric locomotives, which produce much lower noise than diesel locomotives, will sufficiently minimize the noise emissions in important environmentally sensitive areas.
"Overall the successful realization of the whole project will irreversibly lead to the reduction of the expenses and the increase in the throughput capacity creating much more favorable conditions for the Terminal customers," the report says.
In 2008 Black Sea Terminal LLC signed a contract with the Georgian Railway LLC according to which the terminal committed itself to the development, construction and reconstruction of some parts of Georgian railway system. This big project consisted of the construction of the new railway facilities, reconstruction of the existing ones, installation of contact networks and connection to the all-electric interlocking.
Kulevi terminal was put into operation in summer 2008. Its total capacity is 10 million tons of oil per year, including 3 million tons of oil, 3 million tons of diesel fuel, and 4 million tons of fuel oil.
The terminal can accommodate up to 168 tank cars. The tank farm's total volume is 320,000 cubic meters with the possibility of increasing to 380,000 cubic meters. The port has two berths to load petroleum products in tankers of up to 100,000 tons.
Loading productivity ranges from 1,000 to 8,000 cubic meters per hour. The railway station, which can simultaneously accommodate up to 180 carriage awaiting discharge of cargo, serves to the port. The railway trestle can simultaneously unload 168 carriages.