LNG

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French LNG storage technology company, has signed a deal with another Chinese shipyard that will allow the use of designs for tanks in floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) as well as floating production vessels and conventional LNG carriers for the largest Chinese shipping group.

Sept 6 (LNGJ) - Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French LNG storage technology company, has received an order from Dalian Shipbuilding in Northeast China for the tank designs for two LNG carrier newbuilds. The vessels have been ordered by Sea Jade Investment, a joint venture comprising Hong Kong-based shipping company Wah Kwong as well as China Gas and China Ship Leasing.

   The vessels will each have capacity of 175,000 cubic metres and will be fitted with the GTT Mark III Flex membrane containment system. “The delivery of the vessels is scheduled between the first and the third quarters of 2027,” said GTT.

July 12 (LNGJ) - GTT, the French designer of membrane storage tanks, said it would provide maritime storage for two LNG carriers ordered from the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company  (DISC) yard in Liaoning province of northeast China.

   GTT said the DSIC yard had ordered the tanks for two vessels ordered by China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES). The ships will each have capacity of 175,000 cubic metres. “They will be fitted with the Mark III Flex membrane containment system,” said GTT. “The delivery of the vessels is scheduled between the fourth quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027,” added the Paris-based company.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French LNG storage technology company, received three approvals from European classification society DNV on its latest development projects in alternative fuels.

March 29 (LNGJ) - French maritime and onshore LNG storage technology firm GTT has received an order from the South Korean shipyard of Samsung Heavy Industries for the tank design of a new floating LNG production vessel.

   With a total storage capacity of 200,000 cubic metres the Paris-based company said this vessel would be the first fitted with GTT’s membrane Mark III Flex containment system. It is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2027. GTT said that with this new order there will be five FLNG hulls fitted with GTT tanks.

March 20 (LNGJ) - Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French LNG storage technology company, has taken first place for a fourth consecutive year in list of patent applications from medium-sized companies made to the French Patent and Trademark Office, l’Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle.

   GTT said it had 57 patents published in 2022. “In the ranking of the Top 50 patent applicants in all categories, GTT is in 23rd place and has moved up seven places compared to the 2021 list,” said the Paris-based company. GTT said the ranking highlighted its “strong dynamic for innovation” and with a high research and development budget representing an average of 10 percent of the group’s turnover.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French LNG storage technology company, has completed the construction of two full containment tanks for the new Nangang LNG import terminal being constructed by the parent company of Beijing Gas Group at Tianjin port in northeast China.

GTT’s order was received from its partner company, China Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering Co. (HQCEC), for the design of eight very large storage tanks each with a capacity of 220,000 cubic metres.

“They are the world's largest onshore LNG storage tanks incorporating the GST® membrane containment technology,” said GTT.

The Paris-based company said the construction schedule remained on track despite the constraints imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

GTT added that the two onshore tanks were now entering the commissioning phase and would be operational in the first half of 2023.

The new Tianjin-Nangang project comprises three phases and will be the the third facility to serve the northeast Chinese port supplying the gas needs of Beijing.

The existing facilities currently include the Tianjin North onshore terminal operated by China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) and had included a separate floating facility when required.

Huge project

“The construction of these first two onshore tanks marks an important milestone for BGG's LNG terminal in Tianjin,” said Philippe Berterottière, Chairman and Chief Executive of GTT Group.

“These tanks are the first of eight planned for the site and are already the largest onshore tanks in the world equipped with our GST® technology. We thank BGG and the Chinese government for their trust and wish HQCEC every success for this new terminal,” he declared.

GTT said its technology offered many advantages compared with a traditional onshore LNG tank.

This includes safer storage management through integrated monitoring and greater storage capacity for the same footprint.

“This milestone is the reward of five years of assessment, preparation, engineering and actual construction,” said Li Yalan, who is Chairwoman of the Beijing Gas unit of parent company Beijing Entreprises Group.

“We are proud to have evolved this emerging technology into a promising solution for many projects around the world,” added Li, whose is also the current President of the International Gas Union.

“Thanks to this world first, these containment membrane tanks are on their way to becoming the state-of-the-art in LNG storage. We have been impressed by the dedication and passion of GTT and HQCEC to make this world-first a success,” she stated.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French LNG storage technology company for ships and onshore, said it received two approvals from maritime classification societies for its new three-tank LNG tanker design.

The Approvals in Principle (AiP) came from Norwegian class society DNV and France’s Bureau Veritas.

DNV and BV have issued approvals in principle for the three-tank LNG carrier design for the Mark III and No. 96 technologies developed by GTT.

“This technological solution is aimed at increasing the profitability and overall performance of the vessel,” stated GTT.

GTT explained that the three-tank LNG carrier concept allowed a reduction in construction costs through the suppression of one cofferdam, one pump tower and all associated cryogenic equipment such as liquid and gas domes, valves and piping.

Philippe Berterottière, Chairman and Chief Executive of GTT, said that for almost 60 years, the GTT Group has been constantly improving its technologies to meet customer  requirements as well as those of the regulatory authorities.

Fewer tanks

“Thirty years ago, we upgraded LNG carriers from five to four tanks and we now hope to bring the market forward with a three-tank LNG carrier. We hope to see this concept become standard in future years,” declared Berterottière.

The Paris-based company said that the overall surface area of the containment system will also be reduced by about 2,000 cubic metres, generating lower costs for the materials and vessel construction.

GTT added that improved ratio between the volume of LNG transported and the surface area of the cryogenic liner would make it possible to reduce the daily boil-off rate.

As an example, GTT estimated that it would achieve a boil-off rate as low as 0.080 percent of tank volume per day with the Mark III Flex technology compared to 0.085 percent of the volume per day with the LNG carriers currently in operation.

The company said that this new design could also offer time-savings for shipyards and could help optimise their construction schedules.

Jean-Baptiste Boutillier, Vice President of Development, Innovation and Technical Strategy at GTT, said the company was honoured by the granting of these two approvals in principle for the three-tank LNG carrier.

“We are convinced that this evolution will benefit all stakeholders by improving the performance of the LNG carrier while reducing its carbon footprint,” added Boutillier.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French designer of LNG storage tanks for ships and for onshore, posted lower first-half revenues and income from technology licensing but received record orders for LNG carrier membrane tanks and many for Qatari vessels.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French designer of maritime liquefied natural gas storage and fuel tanks, said it received an order from its partner, China's Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, for the tank design of the first four LNG carriers for the QatarEnergy expansion project on behalf of the Japanese shipowner, Mitsui Osk Lines.

The Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai is a subsidiary of state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corp.

MOL, which has an operating fleet of almost 100 LNG carriers, had ordered the ships in April 2022 as it also increases its interests in the Chinese LNG shipping market.

GTT will design the tanks of these four new LNG carriers with a total of LNG tank capacity of 174,000 cubic metres per ship and the vessels will be fitted with the latest membrane containment system developed by GTT.

The deliveries of the four vessels  to serve the Qatar expansion project is scheduled for the third quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025.

MOL announced in April 2022 it had signed a long-term charter contract for four newbuild LNG carriers with QatarEnergy.

Track record

“MOL's solid track record in building LNG carriers in China in addition to its performance in the LNG carrier business and safety in navigation and cargo handling earned high regard from QatarEnergy, leading to the successful conclusion of the contract.” MOL said at the time.

QatarEnergy has been developing the North Field Expansion Project to boost its LNG ouput.

The North Field expansion will increase Qatar's LNG production capacity from 77 million tonnes per annum to 126 MTPA with the carrier fleet programme alongside, which could amount to 80 vessels, including the replacement of older ships in the current fleet.

The scope of the first phase of the expansion at the Ras Laffan production complex involves an additional four Trains, each with 8.0 MTPA of output.

Qatar has the southern portion of the North Field in Gulf waters that will provide the huge feed-gas resources and the other part of the field is under the jurisdiction of neighbouring Iran.