The week in energy: Japan’s new hydrogen park, more positive gas supply news and CCS ramping up in Indonesia

Each week, the Asia Natural Gas and Energy Association (ANGEA) compiles stories from the energy world that have caught our eye.              

Given the region in which we operate – and our purpose – this collection of content is largely Asia-focussed. But we also look further afield, knowing that developments, trends and technology from around the world also have an impact across our region.              

Here’s what has resonated over the past seven days. 

New hydrogen park opens in Japan
There was exciting t news this week for Mitsubishi Power Asia Pacific – a subsidiary of ANGEA member company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries – with the start of full-scale operations at Takasago Hydrogen Park, the world’s first fully integrated hydrogen validation facility.

Divided into three sections – hydrogen production, storage and utilisation – Takasago Park seeks to validate hydrogen co-firing and 100% hydrogen firing of gas turbines in power generation. 

The park lines up not only with the development of co-firing generation technologies but the Government of Japan’s commitment to invest $US107 billion in hydrogen supply over the next 15 years. 

Read more: https://bit.ly/452D8Vh 

Positive LNG supply news from the US
The mid-decade entry into production of new and expanded US LNG export facilities is eagerly awaited – and there were more positive developments this week on that front. 

Construction is progressing well on ANGEA member company Sempra Infrastructure’s Port Arthur LNG plant, the first two trains of which are expected to produce 13 million tonnes per annum of LNG when they enter operations in 2027 and 2028. 

A further expansion of Port Arthur – final investment decision for which is forecast for next year – was also approved this week by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), while fellow member Venture Global LNG received approval to raise the authorised capacity of its Calcasieu Pass LNG project. 

Read more: https://bit.ly/3LXz6H5 

More support for gas on the international stage
This week marked the 24th World Petroleum Congress in Calgary – and with it came more public support for the role of gas in energy transition. 

ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods had some particularly telling thoughts on how global energy transition should unfold. 

“There seems to be somewhat of a wishful thinking that we are going to flip the switch and we will go from where we are today to where we will be tomorrow. I think people underestimate the size of the global energy system and the challenge of moving from what we have today.” 

Read more: https://bit.ly/45XYhB8  

Qatar getting ready to ship tomorrow’s gas
Qatar will join the US in adding additional gas capacity from 2025 courtesy of its North Field expansion, and the long-time Asian energy trading partner is already making preparations. 

State-owned QatarEnergy is reportedly looking to add around 15 Q-Max LNG carriers to its fleet, an outlay that could stretch into the billions of dollars. 

New gas from Qatar will help alleviate currently tight global supply and provide LNG that is crucial to Asia’s energy transition. 

Read more: https://bit.ly/3EIQwmL 

Hong Kong, a study in LNG’s role in energy transition
On the subject of LNG and energy transition, Petroleum Economist published an excellent piece recently that looked at Hong Kong and its attempts to reduce reliance on coal for electricity generation. 

With limited domestic capacity to use renewable energy, Hong Kong this year started operations at its first LNG import terminal – which also happens to be the largest floating storage regasification unit in the world. 

Read more: https://bit.ly/48oAhZk 

Petronas supplies new gas for Sarawak industry
Malaysia’ Petronas confirmed this week that it had started piped deliveries of gas from the Bintulu Additional Gas Facility to a new world-scale methanol plant in Sarawak. 

While we often talk about the critical importance of gas and LNG to energy transition, it sometimes gets overlooked how vital they are as feedstock for industrial processes, including the manufacturing of hydrogen and ammonia.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3Zp5o2T  

Bintulu Additional Gas Facility commences delivery to new S’wak methanol planthttps://t.co/C95GE3tHnV pic.twitter.com/B9loW7S5H0

— DayakDaily (@DayakDaily) September 18, 2023

Germany forecasts ongoing role for gas
The energy situation in Germany has been fascinating to watch over the past two years, with officials this week saying more investment in LNG would be required to ensure the country had enough diversity of energy supply. 

Before Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, Germany had been moving towards accelerated progress to net zero highlighted by aggressive uptake of renewables in preference to fossil fuels. 

The loss of piped Russian gas saw Germany initially turn briefly back to coal, before pivoting to low-carbon LNG. Germany quickly went from having no import LNG capabilities to taking delivery of a million tonnes in the first quarter of 2023 and is projected to have the world’s fourth largest import capacity by 2030. 

Read more: https://reut.rs/3PKqNAo  

Major carbon capture projects ramping up in Indonesia
It’s very pleasing to see the ongoing development of carbon capture and storage capabilities in Indonesia, with ExxonMobil and BP providing highly positive updates on projects at the International Convention on Indonesian Upstream Oil and Gas in Bali. 

With Indonesia set to have the world’s fourth biggest economy by 2050, carbon capture and storage is going to be key to the nation’s aspirations to achieve net zero by 2060. 

Read more: https://bit.ly/3PpphSY 

ANGEA is an industry association representing LNG and natural gas producers, energy buyers, suppliers and companies in APAC. Based in Singapore, it works in partnership with governments and societies across the region to deliver reliable and secure energy solutions that achieve national economic, energy security, social and environmental objectives and meet global climate goals.