Page 8 - GLNG Week 06
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GLNG AUSTRALASIA GLNG
Shell confirms plans to build 120- MW solar farm in Queensland
ENERGY TRANSITION
The solar farm will power the QGC project, which produces gas
for domestic and international markets.
ROYAL Dutch Shell is to build the 120-MW Gangarri solar plant in Queensland in a bid to reduce the carbon footprint of its LNG export-orientated Queensland Curtis (QGC) onshore natural gas project.
Shell Australia said on February 7 that the development at Wandoan in central Queens- land would feature 400,000 photovolatic (PV) panels and would reduce CO2 emissions at the industrial site by an estimated 300,000 tonnes per year (tpy).
Shell said that it was its “first large-scale solar farm” in Australia. The project is located adjacent to existing power infrastructure and on the site of QGC onshore natural gas project.
“We believe solar will play an increasing role in the global energy system, especially when partnered with a reliable energy source such as gas,” said Shell Australia chairman Tony Nunan.
The project involves Shell’s domestic energy marketing and trading business, Shell Energy Australia, signing a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the solar farm.
Shell Energy Australia then plans to buy another 120 MW from the national grid to pro- vide QGC with consistent power supplies.
In 2019, Shell bought ERM Power, Australia’s second-biggest power retailer to businesses and industry, for $410mn and bought a major stake in solar developer ESCO Pacific to form Shell Energy Australia.
Shell’s investment in solar comes as it devel- ops a wider power business in Australia.
“Solar is one of the building blocks of Shell’s power strategy,” said Greg Joiner, vice-president for Shell Energy in Australia.
“We are increasingly incorporating renewa- ble energy into customer offers, as we have done here for QGC, by combining renewable energy with a firmed energy solution offering reliable supply, a fixed price and a cleaner, lower-emis- sion package.”
Shell has identified Australia as one of its core markets for “emerging power” and plans to spend $2-3bn per year until by 2025 on its global power strategy.
EUROPE
Lithuania starts building gas pipe to Poland
PIPELINES & TRANSPORT
The GIPL will provide the Baltic states with access to Poland’s Swinoujscie LNG terminal.
LITHUANIA has begun building a gas inter- connector with Poland – a project that will unite the Baltic states with the rest of the European gas grid.
The first kilometre of Lithuania’s 165-km sec- tion of the Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithua- nia (GIPL) has now been welded into place, the country’s transmission system operator (TSO) Amber Grid said on February 12. Amber’s target is to complete at least 100 km before year-end, putting it in a good position to complete the rest of the pipeline before its scheduled launch at the end of 2021.
“We set an ambitious task for ourselves and contractors ... this project is important not only for Lithuania; therefore we have no time to waste, all our efforts are focused to ensure timely and quality construction of the interconnection,” Amber’s acting CEO Nemunas Biknius said in a statement.
Amber hired Polish company Izostal to sup- ply the required pipes in mid-2019, and a joint venture between Lithuanian firms Alvora and
Siauliu dujotiekio statyba was selected for con- struction services in December.
GIPL is set to enhance the region’s energy security and improve its gas market liquidity. It will provide the Baltic states with access to Poland’s Swinoujscie LNG terminal, supple- menting supplies from the Klaipeda import facility in Lithuania. Finland will also gain from the pipeline’s completion, after connecting its gas network with that of Estonia via a Baltic Sea link earlier this year.
Listed as an EU project of common interest (PCI), GIPL secured €266m ($289mn) in grant funds from the bloc’s Connecting Europe Facil- ity (CEF), covering more than half of its €500mn cost.
The pipeline will be capable of flowing 2.4bn cubic metres per year of gas in the direction of Lithuania, and 1.9 bcm of gas in the direction of Poland. Poland is yet to break ground on its 343-km section of the pipeline, having caused the project to fall more than two years behind schedule after making changes to its route.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 06 13•February•2020
