LNG

Australian liquefied natural gas bunkering company Pilbara Clean Fuels (PCF) has completed a study for the development of an electric-driven and small-scale liquefaction plant at Port Hedland in Western Australia as part of a joint venture to fuel iron-ore carriers with LNG for voyages to Asia.

Oceania Marine Energy (Oceania) is also part of the venture and would operate a marine fuel bunkering business using LNG re-fuelling vessels to be chartered from Kanfer Shipping of Norway.

The third member of the development study is Registro Italiano Navale (RINA), the Italian maritime classification society,  which has developed an concept for an LNG-fuelled 209,000 deadweight ton (DWT) Newcastlemax dry bulk carrier design.

In November 2023 PCF, Oceania and RINA had signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on studies to define the commercial and emissions reduction benefits their combined concepts could deliver to ship owners and charterers for the Pilbara-to-Asia dry-bulk minerals export trade route.

Study findings

The joint study has now been completed and the findings show that an accessible and achievable pathway is there for LNG fuel use on a well-to-wake basis for international shipping on this trade route.

“The study presents a flexible and commercially attractive IMO-compliant marine fuel strategy to ship owners, operators and charterers amidst competing alternative fuel,” said a statement.

It proposes a “Green Corridor” marine fuels solution for the Western Australia-to-China bulk minerals export trade route.

Western Australia is the largest producer of iron ore in the world, with current production of over 850 million tonnes per annum, the majority of which is exported from the Pilbara region.

“The joint study addresses a set of factors which together constitute a pathway to achieving net-zero emissions for this trade route, and for the international shipping industry in general,” a statement explained.

“It concludes that well-to-wake emissions for the Pilbara to Asia export shipping industry can be reduced by more than 90 percent by 2050, using fuel and technologies already in use today and that can be implemented to optimize vessel fuelling and operations,” it added.

Voyage optimization

The study found that the low-carbon LNG plant planned by PCF has the potential to initially produce LNG with emissions of less than 200kg of greenhouse-gas per tonne, which can be further reduced to around 50kg/t LNG.

“LNG bunkering in the Pilbara region offers a substantial voyage optimization by eliminating the need to deviate to other major bunkering hubs in the region, thus significantly reducing emissions,” the companies added.

“This also reduces by 25 percent the emissions associated with transporting LNG over long distances, compared to LNG bunkering in other ports and ensures competitive pricing for LNG,” the report said.

RINA’s bulk-carrier ship concept also features a novel propulsion arrangement which achieves a fuel saving of 12 percent when running on LNG at current market speeds and offers the charterer greater fuel flexibility and enhanced economic benefits by reducing LNG consumption.

Pilbara Clean Fuels said it was making progress with the development of a mid-scale LNG plant for bunkering and to be located at Port Hedland in Western Australia, the world’s largest iron-ore export port. 

Registro Italiano Navale (RINA), the Italian maritime classification society, and the Italian Asprofos oil and gas design consultancy, have been awarded a contract to help manage the deployment of a floating LNG terminal being developed in eastern Greece to supply the Balkans region.

RINA, based in the port of Genoa, and Greek consultancy Asprofos, have secured a contract to provide project management consultancy (PMC) services for the Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System (INGS) venture, controlled by the Greek Company Gastrade SA.

Main shareholders in Alexandroupolis FLNG project include Gastrade Chairwoman Elmina Copelouzou, Greek shipping company GasLog, Public Gas Corporation of Greece (DEPA) and the Bulgarian gas company Bulgartransgaz.

The project is aimed at increasing security and diversification of gas supplies in the whole region of Southeast Europe.

It will consist of a permanently moored floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and a pipeline system of 28 kilometres connecting the floating unit to the Greek National Natural Gas Transmission System (NNGTS).

The FSRU will be stationed in the north-eastern part of the Aegean Sea and about 17.6km from the costal Greek town of Alexandroupolis.

Vessel capacity

The GasLog vessel will have a storage capacity of 153,500 cubic metres, a nominal gas send out rate of 625,000 cubic metres per hour and a peak gas send-out rate of up to 944,000 m³ per hour.

A statement noted that the Alexandroupolis project is being financed through the joint venture’s own resources with co-financing from public funds, the National Bank of Greece and shareholder equity.

Public funds will be provided through the Greek Public Investment Programme, partly through national participation and partly through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

“This terminal is a fast-track project, with the FSRU scheduled to be online by the end of 2023,” said the contract winners.

“RINA and Asprofos will make sure that the contractual requirements of the project in terms of expected performance, quality, safety and planning are met,” they added.

“As well as supporting the owner on technical and managerial planning and oversight the two partners will act as an interface, through a multidisciplinary team of experts covering the different needs of the project,” they stated.

RINA view

Leonardo Brunori, Executive Vice President Energy at RINA, said the society was pleased to be involved in a project crucial to the security of European energy supplies.

“Recent events have highlighted the danger of relying on a single country for our energy needs. RINA has a long and proud track record of delivering FSRU and LNG projects globally having worked on over 200 in the last 15 years,” Brunori noted.

“We look forward to working together with Asprofos to deliver this strategically important terminal enabling Europe to further diversify access to energy,” he added.

Dionysios Belekoukias, Managing Director at Asprofos, said his firm was glad to be working with RINA on such an important project.

“We were awarded the contract because of our combined strong technical competencies. Over the last 35 years Asprofos has gained extensive experience in the natural gas sector having been involved in all phases of the majority of the National Natural Gas System of Greece, including the LNG Terminal in Revithoussa,” explained Belekoukias.

“We have also been actively involved in most of the natural gas projects which have been implemented or are under development in Greece such as Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the IGI Poseidon Pipeline, the East Med Pipeline, covering engineering, environmental, permitting, project management, construction management and supervision services,” he added.

Registro Italiano Navale (Rina), the Italian maritime classification society, said it was chosen by Italian energy company Eni to certify the design and fabrication of subsea structures and equipment for the Coral South floating LNG project offshore the southeast African nation of Mozambique.