LNG

Woodside Energy, the operator of the North West Shelf and Pluto LNG plants in Western Australia, has signed a sale and purchase agreement with CPC Corp. of Taiwan for the long-term supply of cargoes.

Taiwan voted in a referendum to retain the site of the nation’s third liquefied natural gas terminal, currently under construction at Taoyuan, though will extend the LNG carrier jetty slightly further out to sea away from a sensitive reef area.

Taiwan will vote in a referendum on December 18 on whether to move the nation’s third liquefied natural gas terminal, currently under construction at Taoyuan, to another location or to accept a government plan to extend the LNG carrier jetty slightly further out to sea away from a sensitive reef area.

Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua said a balanced approach was required for energy and LNG imports to advance the economy.

Wang urged voters to reject the relocation, and said that the present plans for the terminal, one-third of which has already been built, would not affect an algae reef near the coast.

Wang made her defence of the project in a televised forum on November 13 when the cases for and against were put forward.

Taiwan is still Asia’s fifth-largest LNG importer after North Asia’s top three of Japan, China and South Korea and with India in fourth place.

The Taiwanese are constructing the third LNG terminal to meet increasing demand after imports rose 6 percent last year to 17.75 million tonnes.

Taiwan in July 2021 signed a new LNG supply agreement with QatarEnergy for 1.25 million tonnes per annum of cargoes as the Taiwanese prepare to use more of the fuel. It is additionally increasing LNG shipments from  the US.

Under the Taiwan expansion plans, the national energy company, CPC Corp., is developing the Taoyuan terminal in the district of Datan Borough for local needs and a gas-fired power plant there.

Completion

The first phase of the Taoyuan terminal construction should be completed by 2023. A second expansion phase is also proposed.

The first expansion of Taiwan’s existing Tai-Chung LNG terminal was also completed at the end of 2019.

Further work is planned, including the addition of another berth and associated tanks, to be carried out in two phases.

The 1.8 MTPA expansion project at Taiwan’s second existing terminal, the Yung-An facility, including three new storage tanks and related regasification facilities, is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

Minister Wang said that the LNG project was an important part of the country's power supply infrastructure, which can achieve the goals of protecting the algae reef in the area, ensuring stable power supply and cutting air pollution.

“The government’s revised project is to push the LNG terminal 450 metres away to 1.2 kilometres from the coast may not be perfect, but it is the best solution for protecting the environment,” stated Wang.

The LNG plant referendum was achieved by environmentalist groups brought together into the “Rescue Datan Algae Reefs Alliance”. They managed to collect more than 700,000 signatures by March 2021 to have the LNG terminal issue put on the ballot on December 18.

Taiwanese voters will be deciding on three issues in the referendum, the LNG terminal, the re-activation of a moth-balled fourth nuclear power plant and the quality standards of imported pork.

Siemens Energy said its HL-class gas-fired power technology is poised to enable particularly low-emission, economical and flexible power generation from mid-2024 for Taiwan's increasing LNG imports.

Taiwan in July 2021 signed a new LNG supply with Qatar Petroleum for 1.25 million tonnes per annum of cargoes as the Taiwanese use more of the fuel and expand their infrastructure.

Taiwan is still Asia’s fifth-largest importer after North Asia’s top three of Japan, China and South Korea and with India in fourth place.

The Taiwanese are constructing a third LNG import terminal to meet increasing demand after imports rose 6 percent last year to 17.75 million tonnes.

Under the Taiwan expansion plans, the national energy company CPC Corp. is developing its third LNG import terminal in the Taoyuan district of Datan Borough.

The first phase is under construction and could be completed by 2023. A second expansion phase is also proposed with the target of full commissioning by 2025.

The first expansion of Taiwan’s existing Tai-Chung LNG terminal was completed at the end of 2019.

Further work is planned, including the addition of another berth and associated tanks, to be carried out in two phases.

The 1.8 MTPA expansion project at Taiwan’s second terminal, the Yung-An facility, including three new storage tanks and related regasification facilities, is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

Consortium

Siemens Energy, together with its consortium partner CTCI Corp, the leading Taiwanese engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company, will build the Sun Ba Power Phase II combined-cycle power plant.

“The plant will be an important building block in Taiwan's energy transition, which aims to shift from coal and nuclear power to environmentally friendly gas-fired power plants and renewable energies,” explained Munich-based Siemens Energy.

“The Sun Ba II facility will be built in Tainan in southwest Taiwan, and have an installed electrical capacity of 1,100 megawatts (MW),” added the company.

“It will be fired with regasified liquefied natural gas and Siemens Energy will also provide long-term service for the plant's core components,” it stated.

The customer is the independent power producer Sun Ba Power Corp.

“We are very excited to contribute to the energy transition of Taiwan with our leading HL-class gas turbine technology,” said Karim Amin, Executive Vice President Generation at Siemens Energy.

“This technology offers substantial value for Sun Ba Power Corp.'s project, as it combines high power density with world-class efficiencies,” added Amin.

“As a result, a large amount of electricity can be produced at the lowest possible cost while driving significant CO2 reductions at the same time,” he explained.

As one of the world's foremost manufacturers of semiconductors and a technology leader, Taiwan depends on secure and affordable power supply.

“Since Taiwan must import its entire natural gas requirements as LNG at comparatively high costs, the efficiency of gas-fired power plants has a particularly strong impact on their economic viability,” declared Siemens Energy.

Sun Ba II is designed as a multi-shaft combined-cycle power plant in which two gas turbines and one steam turbine each drive its own electrical generator.

Siemens Energy's scope of supply includes the plant’s power island, consisting of two SGT6-9000HL gas turbines, one SST-5000 steam turbine, three SGen6-2000P generators, two heat-recovery steam generators and the SPPA-T3000 control system.

“The service contract includes long-term service over 25 years for both gas turbines, the generators, the steam turbine and the heat recovery steam generators,” said Siemens Energy. 

Qatar Petroleum has signed a new supply agreement with Taiwan for 1.25 million tonnes per annum of LNG as the Taiwanese use more of the fuel and expand their infrastructure.

The Shanghai Oil and Gas Exchange (SHPGX) said that the Chinese major, China National Offshore Oil Corp., had agreed to buy two cargoes of liquefied natural gas from Royal Dutch Shell with offset carbon emissions, marking China’s first such gas purchase.