India’s Baidyanath LNG will sell fuel to GreenLine Logistics’ lorries that run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the coal and limestone-rich region of western Maharashtra state, the companies said on Thursday.

India, one of the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, has set a goal for net zero carbon emissions by 2070. Using LNG will help the country cut demand for diesel, which accounts for about two-fifths of its refined fuel consumption and is widely used by buses, trucks and the mining sector.

Baidyanath LNG, a unit of India-based ayurvedic products maker Baidyanath, operates two LNG fuel stations and hopes to set up around 15 stations in the Vidarbha region of western Maharashtra by the second quarter of 2024, its chief executive Vaddadi Subbarao told Reuters. GreenLine, India’s only LNG-powered heavy trucking logistics company, said its LNG-fuelled lorry emits 24 tonnes less carbon dioxide than diesel-fired ones. It plans to expand its fleet to 1,600 by March 2024 to annually cut 38,400 tonnes of carbon emissions, it said. GreenLine already provides LNG trucks to some cement makers in the Vidarbha region.

Industries in India are increasingly switching to cleaner energy to cut their carbon footprint and help the country meet its commitment to cut emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030. Indian companies are also spending billions of dollars building gas infrastructure, including pipelines and import terminals, to raise the share of gas in the energy mix to 15% by 2030 from the current 6.2%. Baidyanath has six-year LNG purchase contracts with GAIL (India) Ltd and Indian Oil Corp for 26,000 tonnes and 10,000 tonnes, respectively, of the supercooled fuel, Subbarao said.

https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/indian-companies-seal-deal-to-step-up-use-of-lng-lorries-in-mineral-rich-west-maharashtra/

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Gail India Ltd. will tap the seaborne market to supply state-run power producer NTPC Ltd., which has been asked by the government to run 5 gigawatts of plants to meet peak demand during April and May, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named as the details are private.

NTPC estimates it will require 250 million metric standard cubic meters of the fuel during the two-month period, according to some of the people. An additional 4 gigawatts of capacity run by other companies will also be kept ready to operate if needed.

NTPC and a Gail spokesman didn’t immediately reply to emails seeking a comment.

India’s government is taking action as harsher-than-expected weatherthreatens to create a surge in electricity demand. An early onset of hot weatherhas already pushed power demand to near-record levels, stoking fears of arepeat of the intense heat wave last year.

India has already invoked an emergency rule forcing some plants running onimported coal to run at capacity.

Nearly 25 gigawatts of India’s gas-fired capacity has been lying underutilizedfor years, as the electricity is too costly for the competitive market dominatedby coal. Bringing these units back shows the extent of the challenge, as thenation is forced to ditch concerns over high prices to meet supply shortfalls.

Indian Energy Exchange, the nation’s biggest trading platform, has opened anew window that will allow trade of high-cost electricity produced from gas,imported coal and batteries.

NTPC will procure the gas from state-run peer Gail through a long-termpurchase contract, the people said. Gail will likely tap the spot LNG marketsfor meeting NTPC’s demand, one of the people said.India relies on imports for nearly half its gas needs, with fertilizer, transportand industries being the biggest users of the fuel. The nation’s LNG importsdeclined 14% from a year earlier during the 10 months ended in January due tohigh prices.Now, with prices softening in the spot market and increased demand frompower stations, imports are likely to rise, according to Rajesh Mediratta, chiefexecutive officer at Indian Gas Exchange.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/indias-efforts-to-avoid-a-power-crisis-set-to-boost-lng-imports/articleshow/98540411.cms

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Spot visits to the Sector 62 and Film City charging stations on Friday showed that the standalone docks were largely abandoned. There are dozens more like these, most of them not functioning, in sectors 32, 2 and 6, among others.

Last year, the Noida Authority installed these charging stations as part of measures to encourage commuters to take up EVs as personal vehicles.

But few in the NCR city have opted for EVs till now.

According to 2022 data by the transport department, there are around 13,000 EVs registered in Gautam Budh Nagar. Almost 70% of these are e-rickshaws, which drivers usually charge at stations facilitated by companies or through chargers already given to them. The remaining are four-wheelers.

A senior official of the Noida Authority, which is responsible for the upkeep of these charging docks, admitted that most of the charging stations set up over the past year aren’t operational.

“It will take some time to make them functional as technical details about operating the charging stations are being worked out,” the official said.

He said there was also the problem of demand.

“There are just a few thousand personal four-wheelers in Noida. These stations will prove to be beneficial when the number of EVs in the district increases,” the official added.

Further, car sellers explained that buyers who choose EVs are often given charging devices to set up near their house or in their societies. The showrooms, too, have charging apparatus at their premises.

“Companies provide chargers to buyers of electric vehicles. This generally takes 7-8 hours for full battery. We also have fast chargers outside our showroom and these take just 90 minutes. Additionally, many private companies are providing charging solutions with a mobile van service, which can be called in if someone’s battery drains out while travelling,” said Kapil Rana, a manager at a Tata showroom in Sector 6.

Others in the industry said putting up standalone charging stations isn’t viable until demand for them goes up.

“Isolated charging docks will only reap benefits when more people buy EVs. Instead, setting up fast charging stations in a cluster model like that at petrol pumps with multiple charging docks should be the focus. A similar model has been developed in Gurgaon where two EV charging stations have been set up as a pilot project,” said Abhijeet Sinha, nationalprogramme director for Ease of Doing Business and member of the working group at National Highway for Electric Vehicle (NHforEV) organisation.

With the EV sector growing rapidly across the country, the UP government had last year said it would encourage adoption of electric vehicles in the state by offering subsidies to buyers. Apart from discounted rates, the Uttar Pradesh Electric Vehicle Manufacturing and Mobility Policy 2022 also presented other incentives such as exemptions on road tax and registration fees.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/no-takers-most-of-69-ev-charging-stns-lie-unused/articleshow/98289410.cms

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The potential sale could unblock the suspension of the field development plan, which the operator of the Pecan field, Norway’s Aker Energy, hasn’t submitted yet.  

Aker Energy holds a 50% participating interest in the Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points block in Ghana, including the Pecan development project. Lukoil owns 38%, Fueltrade has 2%, and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation holds the remaining 10%. Seven successful exploration wells and eight appraisal wells on the block have proved a significant resource base as well as offering a high upside, Aker Energy says.

However, the company has been wary of the involvement of Lukoil as a partner in the block due to the Western sanctions on Russia and has said it would wait to see the issue resolved until it files a field development plan.

Aker Energy has completed FEED and prepared a revised Plan of Development for the Deepwater Tano/Cape Three Points block, Aker said in August 2022.

Earlier this month the Q4 earnings release, Aker said that the filing of the development plant “has been delayed due to the uncertainties and risks caused by the war in Ukraine and Lukoil Overseas Ghana Tano Ltd.’s 38 percent interest in the license, as well as supply chain disruptions and inflation.” The current deadline for submitting the plan has been extended to April 2023.

Lukoil is directly talking with Indian companies about potentially selling its stake in the Pecan field development because banks do not want to get involved due to the sanctions against Russia, according to Reuters’ sources. During an Indian energy event earlier this month, Lukoil representatives and Indian firms, including ONGC Videsh, the foreign investment arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), discussed a potential deal, the sources said.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Russias-Lukoil-Looks-To-Sell-Stake-In-Offshore-Oil-And-Gas-Field.html

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The company says the project will convert landfill gas into RNG – more than 3 million GGE annually – that will be used for the transportation sector and other end uses.

“As the transition away from fossil fuels accelerates, our Marathon County project showcases how waste-to-energy projects can be a win-win-win. We are reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the county’s landfill, converting that landfill gas into clean RNG, and replacing the need for fossil fuel-derived natural gas in the process,” says Viridi CEO Dan Crouse. “In addition to the environmental impact, we are excited to support the local economy in Marathon County as we kick off operations in the community.” While the management team has developed more than a dozen landfill to RNG sites and has over 100 years of combined experience in the industry, this is one of the first landfill projects developed under the Viridi name, a company they launched last year with the backing of Warburg Pincus and Green Rock Energy Partners.

For Marathon County, the partnership with Viridi is its latest sustainable infrastructure venture. This project will have a direct, positive environmental impact on the surrounding community by reducing the need for on-site emissions mitigation through the conversion of naturally occurring landfill gas into clean RNG.

https://ngtnews.com/viridi-energy-building-renewable-natural-gas-project-in-wisconsin

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Co-ordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the Green Ray project brings together several companies from across the shipping value chain: shipyard Chantiers de l’Atlantique, ship owner CMA CGA, classification society DNV GL, the Finnish Meterological Institute, ship manager MSC Cruises Management, non-profit organisation Revolve Water, and energy major Shell.

The project will develop on-engine technologies for low-pressure dual-fuel engines – both two- and four-stroke – as well as a novel aftertreatment concept. These solutions will be advanced to a high state of technology readiness, including demonstrators installed on two newbuilds and one retrofitted to an existing vessel. All the technologies developed in Green Ray will also be fully capable to utilise bio- or synthetic methane instead of fossil LNG.

Wärtsilä will develop technology specifically for low pressure four-stroke dual-fuel engines that enables methane slip reduction, increases efficiency, and lowers operational costs at all engine loads. This technology targets the largest four-stroke engines on the market as widely used by cruise ships, ferries, and gas carriers.

Wärtsilä will also develop an on-engine technology for two-stroke engines around a patented LNG injection system to reduce methane slip from tankers, container ships, etc. Both technologies will be demonstrated at sea in real application during the project in collaboration with the Green Ray partners.

The use of LNG as a marine fuel is accelerating, driven by a well-developed supply infrastructure, a clear transition to cleaner fuels and significant air pollution and climate benefits. The issue of methane slip – unutilised and thus unburned fuel escaping into the atmosphere from engines and across the production and supply chain – is seen as one of the main challenges to wider uptake.

“Methane slip has become an important factor in ship owners’ decisions about whether to use LNG fuel,” said Kati Lehtoranta, Principal Scientist, VTT. “With these promising technologies, we aim to reduce the slip contributing directly to reduction of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, opening this pathway to even wider segment of the maritime market.”

Shell has developed a proprietary methane abatement catalyst system that has been lab tested and scaled up to a field demonstration, where it was proven to be effective not only in significantly reducing methane slip (over 90%), but also in handling typical compounds that can degrade the catalyst, via the inclusion of a guard bed.

“Shell’s climate ambition to become a net zero emissions energy business by 2050 will require us to explore a range of avenues that have the potential to help us, our partners, and customers to decarbonise the existing LNG value chain. We are continuously working to improve the value proposition of LNG through dedicated technology research, and we are keen to develop potential solutions to minimise methane slip at such a relevant project as Green Ray,” explained Alexander Boekhorst, VP Gas Processing and Conversion Technology at Shell.

“This research will allow us to build on the continuous improvements made in reducing methane slip from engines over the past 20 years,” commented Sebastiaan Bleuanus, General Manager, Research Co-ordination & Funding, Wärtsilä Marine Power. “Taking these solutions for newbuilds and retrofits to near commercial readiness will be an important step for the long-term viability of LNG as a marine fuel.”

The project has received funding of approximately €7 million from Horizon Europe. It will run until 2027.

https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/27022023/green-ray-project-to-develop-solutions-minimising-methane-slip-from-lng-fuelled-engines/

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Ship orders totalling 2.1 million compensated gross tonnage (CGT) were made across the world in February, a 25 per cent fall on the same month last year, said Clarksons Research, a British shipbuilding- and shipping-market analysis company that publishes monthly reports on aggregated global shipbuilding orders.

South Korea received orders for 34 ships totalling 1.56 million CGT, accounting for 74 per cent of all orders last month. China booked orders for nine vessels at 170,000 CGT, about 8 per cent of the total.

These figures are in stark contrast to those from January, when China topped the list after taking 45 per cent of global orders compared to South Korea’s 33 per cent.

In February, far fewer orders were made for general crude and bulk carriers that Chinese shipyards focus on, whereas there were more requests for high-value and eco-friendly vessels that South Korean shipyards have an advantage in producing.

“Fluctuations in monthly market shares do not have much significance when comparing the shipbuilding industry across countries because the ship ordering market is inherently highly volatile,” said Woo Jong-hun, a professor of the department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering at Seoul National University.

This, however, does not mean that China will continue to receive less orders and Korea more.

“There may have been a decrease in tanker and bulk carrier orders in the short term, but there are bound to be ups and downs when it comes to such orders,” he said.

“And since in the longer term tankers and bulk carriers are types of ships that are consistently ordered, this is just part of normal ups and downs.”

Woo said more data such as order backlogs, as well as order and shipbuilding tonnages are better to gauge a country’s performance in the industry.

Order backlogs are an important index because they represent medium- to long-term market share and sustainability, as it takes at least two to three years for a single vessel to be delivered after an order is made. For liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, it may take up to five years.

“All things considered, South Korea has a comparative advantage in building higher value ships, and we have been building a lot of LNG carriers, whereas China is ahead of Korea in terms of current order backlogs, which include all kinds of ships and is an index used to compare the relative ranking between shipbuilders,” Woo said.

At the end of last month, the global order backlog was 110.13 million CGT, up 530,000 CGT from the previous month. South Korea accounted for 38.63 million CGT, which is 35 per cent of the total, whereas China accounted for 49.01 million CGT and 45 per cent.

Park Moo-hyun, head of Korean shipping industry research firm TreaBoat Research, said the global volume of ship orders has been rapidly decreasing since October, due to high interest rates and the weak global economic outlook.

Orders in February fell by 25 per cent compared to the same month last year. January’s total was down 63 per cent year on year.

“Looking ahead, China’s dominance is expected in terms of quantity. China’s domestic market, including domestic and international shipping logistics, is so large. Korea’s market conditions are different as it mostly depends on exports,” Woo said.

“Therefore, South Korea should focus on its comparative advantage and further advance its capacity to build high value-added ships through which it can increase profitability instead of competing directly with China with the same type of ships.”

https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3212966/south-korea-breaks-chinas-dominance-february-steal-no-1-spot-global-ship-orders

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The 72,800 gross tonne Jasmine Leader, which can carry 7,000 passenger cars, entered Japan’s western Hiroshima port on 27 February after being fuelled up by LNG bunker barge Kaguya. The barge is based at Japanese power utility Jera’s Kawagoe LNG import terminal in Mie prefecture.

The new ship will mainly transport automobiles manufactured by domestic carmaker Mazda.

It was built by Chinese state-owned shipbuilder China Merchants Nanjing Jinling Shipyard after NYK placed an order in 2021 for four car carriers with the same specification. Jasmine Leader is the first of the four to be launched.

NYK launched its first LNG-fuelled vessel Sakura Leader in October 2020, which was followed by the Plumeria Leader in March 2022. These ships were built at the Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding yard, for Japanese car manufacturer Toyota.

Some ports in Tokyo, Ise/Mikawa, Osaka, Tomakomai and Kita-Kyushu bays will waive or reduce the port entry fees for ships that are fuelled by LNG and LNG bunker barges to incentivise use of alternative marine fuels. But the port of Hiroshima has not introduced such a measure so far.

By Maiko Nakashima

https://www.manifoldtimes.com/news/argus-media-japans-nyk-launches-third-lng-fuelled-car-carrier/

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The operation was carried out by SSES’s 20,000 cbm bunkering vessel, HAI GANG WEI LAI, which delivered LNG to the 15,000 TEU containership, ZIM SAMMY OFER, whilst simultaneously carrying out cargo operation (SIMOPS) at Yangshan Port. The bunkering operation was completed safely and efficiently, with the support Shanghai Maritime Bureau, Customs and Border Inspection authorities.

This marks an important milestone for SSES and Avenir LNG’s partnership in promoting decarbonization and clean energy transition solutions in the shipping and logistics industry.

Mr. Zhang Da, general manager of the SSES, said : “In recent years, LNG has rapidly become the new trend of power fuel for international voyages, while green and low-carbon has become the basic consensus and goal for the future development of the port and shipping industry. Since the implementation of the Shanghai Port’s bonded LNG bunkering project, it has always been highly valued by the Shanghai Municipal Government, and all relevant departments have given immense support. ZIM, one of the world’s leading shipping companies, is also a long-term partner of Shanghai Port. Under the leadership of SIPG, we will deepen the cooperation with ZIM and explore the sustainable development of green shipping together.“

Mr. Peter Mackey, CEO of Avenir LNG, said: “We are delighted to have supported our partner SSES in bunkering ZIM’s first LNG fueled containership in the Port of Shanghai. This is a significant milestone for Avenir as we continue to expand our global bunkering footprint and support the shipping industry’s transition to cleaner fuels.“

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/AVENIR-LNG-LIMITED-120975323/news/Avenir-LNG-SSES-Avenir-LNG-have-successfully-delivered-bonded-LNG-to-ZIM-s-first-LNG-fueled-cont-43137950/

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