Page 9 - GLNG Week 15 2022

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JGC Holdings, K Line aim for

cheaper floating LNG technology

TRANSPORT JAPAN’S JGC Holdings and Kawasaki Kisen storage of liquefied gas can only be built by a
shipping company (K Line) aim to develop a new few shipbuilders in South Korea and elsewhere.
generation of floating LNG (FLNG) terminals by According to JGC, there are only six such tanks
repurposing old gas tankers. in the world.
The companies claim that they will be able to In addition to reducing the cost of construc-
reduce construction costs by 30% and by freez- tion of a typical FLNG plant – put by JGC at
ing natural gas close to production sites offshore. JPY100bn ($793mn) – by up to 30%, the method
There is renewed interest in increasing LNG promises to shorten completion time signifi-
production in Asia as global gas supply tightens cantly from the current four to five years.
owing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kawasaki Kisen said there were about 120
The companies claim that LNG terminals to 130 LNG tankers in the world equipped with
could be built and installed off the coast of Africa spherical tanks that can be transshipped, about
and other gas producing regions close to Europe. 50 of which will be decommissioned in the near
The companies say floating gas plants to can future.
serve gas fields that are far offshore, where pipe- Assuming all 50 of these tankers are reused
line costs are high, and in areas where there are and that each has a loading capacity of 70,000
few markets and little infrastructure for gas on tonnes, a total volume of 3.5mn tonnes. That
land. is equivalent to about 30% of Europe’s LNG
Currently, seven FLNG facilities exist glob- imports in January.
ally in Malaysia, Australia, Mozambique and JGC and Kawasaki Kisen have obtained
Cameroon, including those in transit and under basic certification from the American Bureau
construction. of Shipping, which is important for the practical
JGC and Kawasaki Kisen said that they key application of new technologies in the industry.
to their project was to convert the spherical The companies hope this will increase their pro-
tanks found on old LNG tankers and reinstall on file and help to win orders from countries and
FLNG plants. A typical floating LNG terminal energy companies with interests in gas fields.
would then feature six such tanks are mounted LNG demand is rising, especially in Europe,
in the centre of a floating vessel, usually a former in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The
tanker, approximately 400 metres long. two companies expect that demand for FLNG
Repurposing existing gas tanks would be a in Africa and other regions close to Europe will
major innovation, as tanks for the temporary increase.™

Week 15 15•April•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9