LNG

March 11 (LNGJ) - Air Liquide of France and Vopak of the Netherlands, both prominent participants in the LNG business, have signed a accord to collaborate on the development and operation of infrastructure for ammonia imports and hydrogen distribution in Singapore. “Ammonia is considered as one of the low-carbon fuels for power generation and the maritime industry. As a hydrogen carrier, it is one of the most efficient ways to store and transport hydrogen,” a joint statement said.

   “As such, the parties will study and explore the joint development of low-carbon ammonia supply chains in Singapore, including the potential development of ammonia cracking facilities, associated ammonia storage and handling infrastructure at Vopak’s Banyan terminal,” they added.

Feb 23 (LNGJ) - French LNG sector players, TotalEnergies and Air Liquide, have signed Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (CPPA) with South African energy group Sasol for the supply of 260 megawatts capacity of renewable electricity over 20 years amid continuing power cuts in South Africa.

   TotalEnergies will develop a 120 MW solar plant and a 140 MW windfarm in the Western Cape province to supply around 850 GWh of green electricity per year to the Sasol’s Secunda site, located 700 kilometers further North-East, where Air Liquide operates the biggest oxygen production site in the world. “Power generation in South Africa is still 80 percent based on coal and power cuts occur daily. With these developments we are proud to support Air Liquide and Sasol for their supply of green electricity,” stated Vincent Stoquart, Senior Vice President for Renewables at TotalEnergies.

Leading Asia-Pacific LNG operator Chevron Corp., along with French industrial gas company Air Liquide, Singapore’s Keppel Infrastructure and Chinese energy major PetroChina have signed an accord to form a consortium to advance the development of large-scale carbon-capture, utilization, and sequestration (CCUS) solutions.

The consortium intends to research, test, and develop technological, logistical, and operational solutions for CCUS in Singapore.

“In doing so, the consortium will look to provide industry-wide CCUS integrated infrastructure, primarily to support the energy and chemicals sector, by capturing and aggregating carbon dioxide (CO2) from large industrial emitters at a centralized collection facility,” they explained.

The CO2 could then be utilized to make useful products, such as plastics, fuels, and cement, and/or transported through either pipelines or ships to suitable reservoirs in the Asia-Pacific region for sequestration via a process of injecting CO2 into deep underground geologic formations.

Chris Powers, vice president, for CCUS at Chevron New Energies, said the operator of the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects in Australia believed in the future of energy was lower carbon.

Advancing technologies

“We are committed to advancing technologies and forming strategic relationships to make it happen,” added Powers.

“We look forward to working with like-minded collaborators to progress and advance the development of large-scale CCUS solutions in the Asia-Pacific region for decades to come,” he stated.

Michele Gritti, vice president for Large Industries and Energy Transition at Air Liquide SEA Cluster, said the company supported the decarbonization of industry to help address the urgency of climate change.

“We are pleased to collaborate with Keppel Infrastructure, Chevron, and PetroChina in this decarbonization endeavour, leveraging our expertise and experience in carbon capture, purification, and liquefaction to build a comprehensive carbon-capture decarbonization solution,” added Gritti.

Chua Yong Hwee, executive director (New Energy) at Keppel Infrastructure, said that hard-to-abate sectors needed to leverage technology and innovation to transit towards reduced CO2.

Singapore environment

“Keppel Infrastructure is well-positioned to support efforts to decarbonize key sectors, given our experience as a leading developer, technology solutions provider and operator of energy and environmental infrastructure in Singapore and the region,” he declared.

Li Shaolin, managing director of PetroChina International (Singapore), said there were various pathways to decarbonization, and CCUS has been identified as a strategic pathway to be thoroughly evaluated and developed.

“PetroChina is pleased to be part of this consortium with Air Liquide, Keppel Infrastructure and Chevron; a partnership that will leverage one another’s strengths, capabilities and respective ecosystems towards the advancement of large-scale CCUS solutions in Singapore,” added Li.

Air Liquide Singapore, a fully-owned subsidiary of Air Liquide Group, now has a workforce of close to 800 employees.

Keppel Infrastructure (KI) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corp., the Singaporean flagship multinational company providing solutions for sustainable urbanisation. 

July 12 (LNGJ) - French industrial gases company Air Liquide plans to start its first biomethane production unit in China by the end of 2022. The plant is in Huai’an City in Jiangsu Province with a production capacity of 75 gigawatt hours per annum. “This new unit will produce biogas from agricultural and livestock waste coming from local farms and purify it into biomethane. It will then be injected into the city-gas grid to be used for household consumption,” the company explained.

   Air Liquide has developed expertise throughout the whole biomethane value chain from production, purification, liquefaction, storage and transportation. “Biomethane has a high potential in China in particular as the Chinese government supports projects promoting the valorization of waste as part of its financial plans for the development of rural regions,” stated Air Liquide.

France’s Air Liquide, world leader in industrial gases and LNG technologies, has signed an agreement with French ship and transport firm Sogestran to ship liquid carbon-dioxide around European waterways by barge and ship for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects in the European Union.

French industrial gases company Air Liquide, plans to build an air separation unit (ASU) in the Lingang Economic District of Tianjin Port, the growing centre of Chinese LNG imports for use in the domestic market and by industry.

Air Liquide, whose latest China plans were announced in a statement to the Euronext stock exchange in Paris, has been supplying industrial gases to the Chinese Tianjin industrial basin for many years and operates seven Chinese production facilities.

“With an oxygen production capacity of more than 2,000 tons per day, this ASU will notably allow Air Liquide to support the growth of the chemical and steel industries in the Tianjin basin, secured by a new long-term supply agreement with a major customer,” said the company.

Air Liquide will build, own and operate this new ASU, which has been designed leveraging the group’s latest state-of-the-art technology, for the low-carbon and energy-efficient production of oxygen, nitrogen and argon.

One Air Liquide’s main competitors in China is Air Products, the US company based in Pennsylvania which combines its industrial gas business with its LNG equipment making.

Air Products is the world’s leader in LNG technology and equipment, but is also investing in industrial gas provision in various Chinese provinces.

Air Liquide’s main LNG sector sales are linked to its Turbo-Brayton cryogenic equipment, with around 50 units sold over the last two years.

The technology, developed by Air Liquide and based on the Turbo-Brayton principle, reliquefies LNG boil-off gas on vessels transporting the product, thereby significantly reducing greenhouse-gas emissions during transportation.

Air Liquide now operates nearly 100 industrial gas facilities in China and employs close to 5,000 people with a strong presence in the key coastal industrial areas.

The latest Air Liquide investment in Tianjin, which borders Hebei Province and the Beijing municipality, will incorporate a dedicated capacity to support small-and-medium sized customers of liquid and packaged gases. It is planned to be operational in 2022.

The latest investment will amount to around €60 million ($70M), added the company.

The Chinese operator Beijng Gas is developing more LNG import capacity in Tianjin, which already has two import facilities.

The company’s Nangang import project at Tianjin is currently scheduled to come on line in 2022 with 10 tanks and up to 2 million tonnes of storage.

The Beijing Gas terminal will have an initial 5 million tonnes per annum of LNG capacity and adds to the supply available from Sinopec’s Tianjin North import terminal and the Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) capacity deployed in recent years by China National Offshore Oil Corp.

Air Liquide’s China subsidiary currently operates seven ASUs in Tianjin in the industrial gases sector, as well as a network of multi-sourced pipelines that deliver oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen to adjacent customers.

“One of the most important industrial cities in the country and the largest port in Northern China, Tianjin is a key basin for Air Liquide in China,” explained François Abrial, a member of Air Liquide Group’s Executive Committee supervising the Asia-Pacific region.

“This new investment in the 8th ASU clearly demonstrates our commitment to the long-term partnership we have built with our customers there,” added Abrial.

Air Liquide, the French industrial gases company, said it was marketing an exclusive, patented technology that is perfectly suited to the needs of liquefied natural gas carriers and LNG bunkering vessels. 

Air Liquide, the France-based industrial gases company, said it was continuing to develop its latest boil-off gas reliquefaction technology onboard a second LNG carrier newbuild after successful trials on a first vessel at a shipyard in South Korea.

Air Liquide, the France-based industrial gases company, said its US business signed a new contract with Kinetrex Energy, the leading supplier of LNG in the US Midwest and a promoter of clean-fuel ventures.

Atlantic Gulf and Pacific Co., the LNG module maker and fabrication yard operator based in the Philippines, has signed an accord to cooperate with the engineering unit of French industrial gases company Air Liquide to develop small-scale LNG infrastructure and distribution across Asia.