Using renewable energy to power liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants in the Asia Pacific could reduce emissions by about 8%, according to analysis by Wood Mackenzie.
The region produces over a third of the world’s LNG, generating over 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) of emissions during liquefaction.
Australian LNG projects account for over half, or 29 MtCO2e, of liquefaction emissions from LNG projects in the Asia Pacific.
Many of the region’s LNG facilities are located in remote areas, far from the power grid, so feedgas is used to generate electricity to run the plant and fuel the liquefaction process.
Typically, 8% to 12% of feedgas is consumed at the plant to run these processes.
Wood Mackenzie senior specialist Jamie Taylor said: “Three main decarbonisation levers could help reduce emissions at LNG plants, namely operational efficiency, design changes, and the use of renewable energy, which could be sourced from the grid or generated onsite.”
Feedgas is used to fuel gas turbines to generate electricity to power the plant. Replacing these gas turbines with electricity could greatly reduce emissions, assuming the grid power is less carbon intensive. The other option is to install on-site renewable power.
“Our analysis shows that installing renewable energy generation could reduce emissions at Asia Pacific’s LNG plants by 8% in 2020 alone,” Taylor added.
Taylor said: “A carbon tax is likely to be the biggest driver for LNG projects to switch to renewable energy at the plant or deploy carbon capture and storage to reduce emissions from upstream gas, or both.
“Using less feedgas as a fuel would result in more gas being available to supply either the domestic market or be converted into LNG for exports.
“In APLNG for example, installing 60MW of solar in 2020 at a cost of $60m increases the remaining value of the project by $62m.
“This is due to the additional revenues generated from selling the ‘saved’ feedgas. The relative benefits of installing solar are increased further when a carbon tax is considered.”