Page 7 - AsiaElec Week 33

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Australian FSRU project wins critical status
AUSTRALIA
EPIK’S plan for a oating storage and regasi ca- tion unit (FSRU), in the Port of Newcastle, New South Wales, has been given critical status by the local government. EPIK announced the a rma- tion of the importance of its project recently.
e Newcastle GasDock plan is intended to provide supplies to consumers in the Hunter Valley and broader NSW region. The NSW government’s decision that it should qualify as critical state signi cant infrastructure (CSSI) is a recognition from the Minister for Planning of the project’s importance. e NSW government put the Port Kembla gas terminal on the CSSI list in June 2018.
Celebrating the CSSI status for Newcastle GasDock, EPIK’s founder and managing direc- tor, Jee Yoon, said the project’s primary objective was “to deliver the most competitive infrastruc- ture solution for natural gas imports into NSW. With CSSI status in hand, we are a considerable step closer to delivering the critical infrastruc- ture needed to bring new energy to NSW, pro- viding access to long-term, competitive gas supply to the region, safely powering our homes, driving industry forward and keeping prices low
for everyone to enjoy.”
Newcastle GasPort is expected to begin oper-
ations in the rst half of 2021. It will require an investment of around AUD250mn ($169mn) in addition to the 170,000 cubic metre FSRU. Previ- ous estimates of the entire project have suggested a value of $400-430mn.
e statement said the project would be able to supply more than 80% of the region’s current gas needs. NSW imports around 95% of its gas from other states.
“We look forward to continuing discussions with major gas and power users throughout the state as they seek long-term, competitive solu- tions to their gas supply and power needs,” said EPIK’s executive director, James Markham-Hill.
The Portk Kembla Gas Terminal (PKGT) project, in its statement on achieving CSSI status, said it could furnish more than 70% of NSW’s gas needs. e state gave development consent for PKGT in April, with the plan to deliver rst gas in late 2020. A second phase of work at PKGT could see an 800MW gas- red power plant built.
A naming ceremony for PKGT’s 170,000 cubic metre Hoegh Galleon was held in June.™
MOL-COSCO deal challenges South Korean LNG shipbuilding lead
ASIA
MITSUI OSK Lines (MOL) and China Ocean Shipping Co.’s (COSCO) recent team-up could help to erode the lead South Korean shipyards enjoy in terms of LNG vessel orders.
Japan and China are expected to award more LNG ship orders to domestic yards in an e ort to catch up with their South Korean rivals, e Korean Times quoted unnamed industry o - cials as saying on August 14.
Both Japan and China are investing in LNG to replace coal as a generating fuel in order to lower carbon dioxide emissions and meet the government’s climate change commitments.
MOL and COSCO signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last week to co-oper- ate in new and existing LNG and ethane carrier projects. e Korean Times said the agreement would likely see MOL transfer its LNG ship- building technologies to Chinese dockyards.
South Korea’s shipbuilders have come to dominate the LNG tanker market, with Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), Daewoo Shipbuilding
& Marine Engineering (DSME) and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) winning 66 out the world’s 76 LNG carrier orders in 2018.
“[South] Korea became the powerhouse in LNG shipbuilding a er the country expanded its natural gas reliance in the 1990s, and China is now following in its footsteps,” a senior research fellow at the Korea Export-Import Bank’s Over- seas Economic Research Institute, Yang Jong- seo, told the daily. “Since 2017, China has been importing more LNG than Korea and replacing its coal power plants with LNG plants. To cope with its own LNG demand, China will ramp up its shipbuilders’ capacity to build LNG vessels.”
South Korean shipbuilders won 21 of 27 orders in the rst half of 2019 for LNG carriers capable of carrying more than 170,000 cubic metres, according to market tracker Clarksons Research.
Yang said South Korea’s shipbuilders would likely win 50 of an anticipated 80 vessel orders in the second half of this year.™
Week 33 20•August•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P7