Karthik Sathyamoorthy, President, AG&P LNG Terminals & Logistics, analyses how small scale LNG technologies and transportation models are shaping the future of natural gas, whilst providing emerging countries with an uninterrupted supply of clean energy.
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atural gas is one of the most promising energy fuels due to its environmental qualities and economic viability. The global gas supply industry is shifting, with the spotlight on decarbonisation goals and the availability of alternative resources. Companies need to amend their business models to pivot to a carbon-neutral world and realise that innovations and technology are crucial to delivering valuable changes. The LNG industry is becoming increasingly diverse and dynamic. Despite price volatility, the recent increase in demand trends suggested that developing nations, such as the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, will play a significant role in LNG growth compared to historically well-known buyers, such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. This means that small scale, modular, and floating technologies are shaping the future of the LNG market – one that is flexible, scaleable, and accessible. The adoption of small scale LNG through small scale carriers and ISO containers is significantly increasing, with China and Europe as major users of these types of infrastructure. The industry is also developing in emerging countries such as India and Thailand, which seek to provide uninterrupted and clean energy in the form of natural gas to thousands of citizens in their domestic market right to their doorstep, even in the most landlocked areas.
City gas distribution processes
To take India as an example, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has laid a plan to expand the city gas distribution (CGD) networks across the country for gas access to at least 70% of the population, covering over 407 districts. The CGD companies in India are expected to invest up to Rs 120 000 crore (approximately US$14 billion) over the next 10 years. AG&P, developer, owner, and operator of downstream LNG/natural gas ecosystem, captured the opportunities that carrying out gas distribution in India has to offer – to bring LNG in affordable and smaller volumes to minor markets, which are the non-traditional, more dispersed off-grid customers. Today, over 200 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations are being commissioned across five states of India for the automobile industry’s fast-fill and time-fill, ensuring a limited emission of pollutants in the air. Over 200 000 households benefit from stable and reliable power supplies through the last-mile infrastructure, which includes laying more than 1000 km of pipelines to each end-user. AG&P employs a hybrid methodology in serving its customers effectively, covering the last mile delivery by utilising robust customer-specific solutions and varied modes of gas transportation, such as trucking services that transport LNG to factories and central depots where gas is transferred into local, regional pipe networks, and smaller trucks to supply cascades to disparate smaller pockets of commercial customers with limited pipeline access. Over the next 10 years, more than 28 districts and approximately 80 million people in India will benefit from the clean, affordable, and safe
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