LNG

The Norwegian small-scale LNG business of Stolt-Nielsen and partners Höegh LNG and Golar LNG has taken delivery of another gas supply and bunkering vessel (LBV) from the Keppel Offshore and Marine shipyard in the Chinese port of Nantong.

The Nordic joint venture called Avenir LNG has named its second 7,500 cubic metres capacity dual-purpose LBV, the “Avenir Accolade”, and it is now available.

The company said the “Avenir Accolade” would enter a three-year bareboat charter to LNG Power Limited, a subsidiary of Hygo Energy Transition to support Hygo’s developments in northeast Brazil.

This is the Avenir joint venture’s first entry into the Latin American LNG market.

Stolt-Nielsen, whose headquarters are in London, started up the small-scale LNG sector firm Avenir in 2015 and its two main investors, Golar and Höegh, each have 22.5 percent of Avenir.

The company said that the “Avenir Accolade” would soon be delivering LNG to Hygo’s customers along the Brazilian coastline.

“Fitted with specialised LNG handling equipment, she will be capable of unloading LNG directly into trucks for onward distribution across Brazil,” said Avenir.

The Hygo company was formerly known as Golar Power and is being acquired by New York-Based New Fortress Energy.

In addition to the growing small-scale LNG fleet, Avenir has an 80 percent stake in a small-scale LNG import project on the Italian island of Sardinia and set to start up soon.

Peter Mackey, Chief Executive of Avenir, said the company strategy was progressing on schedule.

“This is a transformational year for Avenir LNG as we commission our onshore LNG terminal in Sardinia in the coming weeks and continue to expand our fleet with the addition of four more newbuild vessels by year-end,” Mackey explained.

Avenir’s largest bunkering vessel, the “Avenir Allegiance” with 20,000 cubic metres capacity, entered the water in January 2021 at the Zhoushan Changhong Sinopacific shipyard in China’s eastern Zheijang province.

That vessel is scheduled to be delivered from the yard in the third quarter of 2021 and will join the Avenir fleet as the world’s largest LNG bunkering vessel.

Avenir’s first newbuild delivery, the “Avenir Advantage”, took place in October 2020 and has now been followed by the “Avenir Accolade” with other newbuilds, including one named the “Avenir Allegiance”, lined up for delivery during 2021. 

Golar LNG Partners has filed final statements with the US Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of the special meeting called for February 24 as a virtual Webcast to vote on the proposed takeover by New Fortress Energy, the New York-based LNG and power project developer in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The state-owned Philippine National Oil Company has signed an accord with US-based project company New Fortress Energy to jointly develop liquefied natural gas infrastructure in the Southeast Asian nation.

US LNG equipment-maker Chart Industries said it received orders for its ISO containers for LNG applications with a second leasing order from Latin American and Caribbean project New Fortress Energy.

At the same time, Atlanta, Georgia-based Chart is expanding its liquid hydrogen and LNG businesses with strategic agreements.

Chart said the value of the latest New Fortress contract totaled $7.7 million.

“The first order of a similar size was booked in July 2020, and we look forward to our continued relationship with New Fortress as they execute their vision,” said chart.

“As a reminder, we see double digit near-term growth in our repair, service and leasing business, and continue to expect growing demand for LNG equipment for infrastructure,” stated the company.

Chart also completed the divestiture of its cryobiological products business, MVE Biological Products, to Cryoport Inc., headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, for $320M in cash.

In other activities, Chart and Plug Power Inc., based in Latham, New York state, executed a master supply agreement for Chart to deliver liquid hydrogen storage and transport equipment to Plug and its subsidiaries.

“We are excited about this agreement between two strong and experienced companies in the hydrogen value chain,” said Chart.

“In conjunction with the agreement, Chart received $7.8M of equipment orders from Plug that are booked in the third quarter of 2020,” it added.

Plug Power is a leader within the US hydrogen economy, using 40 tons of liquid hydrogen per day.

“Plug Power is well-positioned in the industry with capabilities in generation, liquefaction and distribution of hydrogen fuel, complementing its industry-leading position in the design, construction, and operation of more than 100 customer-facing hydrogen fueling stations,” explained Chart.

Char stated that it was close to executing a formal joint development agreement and entity with one of its key hydrogen customers which will focus on developing first-of-a-kind liquid hydrogen fueling applications.

“This agreement builds upon Chart’s 50-plus years of experience designing and manufacturing hydrogen equipment for storage, transport and power applications as well as our customer’s multi-station infrastructure in the United States for the expansion of fuel cell vehicles,” it explained.

“Timing this agreement with the California Energy Commission’s September 2020 grant funding for multi-year, multiple hydrogen fuel stations, the future of a scalable fueling infrastructure is accelerating,” added Chart.

US federal regulators have issued a final rule allowing the bulk transport of liquefied natural gas in specialized tanks on rail cars to help boost the small-scale LNG projects sector across America.