Page 18 - DMEA Week 43 2020

DMEA LNG DMEA

Snam to develop LNG supply for

vehicles in Israel

ITALY ITALIAN gas grid firm Snam has struck deals start-up H2Pro, which has developed an
with Israeli firms on the use of LNG and other “innovative” technology known as E-TAC for
Israel wants to phase alternative fuels in Israel’s transport sector. producing green hydrogen. H2Pro claims the
out gasoline and diesel- Snam signed one agreement with the coun- technology can yield 30% more hydrogen from
powered vehicles, try’s largest gas supplier Delek Drilling and its water than traditional electrolysis. Snam and
replacing some with main public transport provider Dan on develop- H2Pro will carry out joint research, and may
gas-fuelled cars. ing a supply chain for using LNG as a transport apply H2Pro’s technologies at projects and
fuel in Israel, particularly for buses and heavy take part in project tenders both in Israel and
vehicles. in Europe.
The group will carry out feasibility studies on “With these agreements we are further
building a small-scale liquefaction pilot plant developing Snam’s international presence to
and LNG refuelling infrastructure, leveraging strengthen our contribution to the energy tran-
Snam’s technologies and Delek’s gas reserves. sition and the achievement of global climate
Delek operates a number of onshore and off- objectives,” Snam CEO Marco Alvera com-
shore gas licences in Israel. Its largest projects mented. “The partnerships with Delek Drilling,
are the Leviathan and Tamar fields in the Medi- Dan and H2Pro ... allow us to enter a new mar-
terranean Sea. ket with projects in sectors of our interest such
Snam also signed a memorandum of under- as sustainable mobility and hydrogen and, at the
standing (MoU) with Dan on evaluating the use same time, to increase our know-how in one of
of biomethane, green hydrogen and electricity in the most innovative contexts in the world.”
transport. The deal could pave the way for the Israel wants to ban the sale of new gasoline
conversion of some of Dan’s vehicles to run on and diesel-powered vehicles after 2030, replac-
these energy sources, as well as the development ing them with gas-fuelled and electric cars and
of pilot refuelling and recharging infrastructure. trucks. And thanks to major offshore discoveries
Finally, the Italian firm signed a collabo- over the past decade, it now has more gas than it
ration and research agreement with Israeli can use or readily export. ™

TRANSPORT

Opposition party faults Transnet for oil spill

SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH Africa’s Democratic Alliance (DA) provincial administration has already ordered
Party has demanded that Transnet Pipelines TPL to review the matter. Nomusa Dube-Ncube,
The party has also (TPL) be held responsible for a pipeline breach a member of the executive council (MEC) for
called for a probe of the that caused several thousand litres of crude oil to economic development, tourism and environ-
incident. spill into the Umbilo River. mental affairs, reported last week that the com-
Hannah Shameema Winkler, the opposition pany had been given 14 days to submit a report
party’s shadow deputy minister for environmen- on the spill.
tal affairs, forestry and fisheries, said that the DA Dube-Ncube also reported that TPL had
would work to ensure that the proper action was been instructed to remove oil-contaminated
taken against the pipeline operator. Specifically, materials, such as litter, as well as the spilled
she said, the party will seek to uphold the inter- crude itself. This step is necessary in order to
ests of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial adminis- avoid secondary contamination, she said.
tration and the municipality of eThekwini. As of press time, the size and extent of the spill
She also called on TPL to mount a probe of was not known. TPL has already started repair-
the incident. “An immediate investigation must ing the pipeline breach, which it has attributed
be undertaken into the allegations of Transnet’s to attempted theft. The company has also said
ailing pipeline infrastructure as the cause of the that the incident occurred on October 19, but
oil spill,” she commented. “An environmental Desmond D’Sa, a spokesperson for the South
assessment of the damage must be commis- Durban Community Environmental Alliance
sioned and a plan for the river’s rehabilitation (SDCEA), was quoted by GroundUp as say-
drafted in consultation with environmental ing that residents of the area began noticing
experts to save the Umbilo River.” the smell of oil several days before TPL began
For its part, the KwaZulu-Natal clean-up procedures. ™

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 43 29•October•2020