Japan's JERA, France's ADEME, Ideol in Floating Wind Pact
Japanese power generator JERA said on Monday it has agreed with France's state-owned investment firm ADEME Investissement and French floating wind technology supplier Ideol on key terms for forming a joint venture to develop floating offshore wind farms.They aim to make a final agreement by the end of this year to jointly establish an investment vehicle to finance the development phase of at least 2 gigawatts(GW) of floating offshore wind projects using Ideol's technology, a JERA…
Walney Extension Sells Transmission Assets
Walney Extension Limited, a joint venture owned by Ørsted (50%), PKA (25%) and PFA (25%), and the operator of the Walney Extension offshore wind farm in the UK, has signed an agreement for the sale of its transmission assets to Diamond Transmission Partners Walney Extension.Diamond Transmission Partners Walney Extension is a partnership between Diamond Transmission Corporation Limited (a Mitsubishi Corporation subsidiary), HICL Infrastructure Company Limited and Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc.The transmission assets hold an asset value of GBP 447 million (USD 560 million).
Osaka Gas Looks to Sell Spare LNG in Europe
Japan's Osaka Gas has offered two liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes from the newly-commissioned Freeport LNG project in the United States for delivery into Europe, industry sources said.Mild weather in Japan and a weaker Chinese economy have helped to drag the global LNG market to multi-year lows and forced Asian sellers to seek alternative markets.Osaka Gas has offered the cargoes for delivery into Europe between July 5 and 13 and Nov. 9 and 17, said three of the sources, who asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the press.Bids…
New LNG Import Terminal Planned at Port Kembla
A consortium including Japan's JERA Co and Marubeni Corp aiming to ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Australia's east coast has chosen a site south of Sydney at Port Kembla for an import terminal, it said on Monday.The project will allow access to a new gas supply for local industries in New South Wales state by 2020, the consortium, Australian Industrial Energy (AIE), said in a statement.AIE also includes iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest's Squadron Energy. Top global LNG buyer…
Freeport LNG Delays Start of Texas Export Terminal
Freeport LNG, a privately held U.S. liquefied natural gas company, said on Thursday it pushed back the projected start date for its $13 billion export terminal under construction in Texas by about nine months to around Sept. 1, 2019.Freeport LNG now expects the first liquefaction train to enter service around Sept. 1, 2019, with the second and third trains seen in service around Jan. 1 and May 1, 2020, respectively, said Zdenek Gerych, a spokesman at Freeport.Previously, the three…
Japan Fires Up Biomass Energy as Fuel Shortage Looms
As the sun sets on Japan's solar energy boom, companies and investors are rushing into wood-burning biomass projects to lock in still-high government subsidies. More than 800 projects have already won government approval, offering 12.4 gigawatts (GW) of capacity -- equal to 12 nuclear power stations and nearly double Japan's 2030 target for biomass in its basic energy policy. The sheer number of projects has raised questions about how they will all find sufficient fuel, mostly shipped in from counries like Canada and Vietnam…
Qatargas Delivers 1st Spot LNG Cargo to JERA
Qatargas Operating Company Limited (Qatargas) agreed with Japan’s newly established JERA Co. Inc. on the first spot Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) cargo purchase under the newly executed Master Sales and Purchase agreement between the two companies. JERA is a recently formed joint venture between two of Japan’s largest power utility companies — Chubu Electric Power Co. Inc. and TEPCO Fuel & Power, Inc. The spot cargo was delivered onboard the Q-Flex LNG Vessel, Al Ruwais, to the Futtsu LNG Terminal in Tokyo Bay on 13th May, 2016.
NYK Acquires Coal Carrier
On September 25, a new 100,000 deadweight tonnage coal carrier ordered by NYK Bulkship (Asia) Pte. Ltd., an NYK Group subsidiary company based in Singapore, was delivered at Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. (Saikai city, Nagasaki prefecture). A delivery and naming ceremony was held at the shipyard on the same day and attended by NYK senior managing corporate officer Masahiro Samitsu and representatives from Chubu Electric Power Co. Inc. Tenryu Maru is the first coal carrier to be jointly owned by a power company and a shipping company.
NYK Charters 2 LNG Carriers for Freeport LNG Project
Two joint-venture companies that NYK has established with Chubu Electric Power Co. Inc. each concluded a time-charter contract for a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier with Chubu Electric Power Co. Inc. In addition, one of the joint-venture companies, Trans Pacific Shipping 6 Limited, concluded a shipbuilding contract with MI LNG Company Limited,* and other joint-venture company, Trans Pacific Shipping 7 Limited, concluded a shipbuilding contract with Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.
Acquisitions, Mergers Show Changing LNG Dynamics
Nothing shows the changing nature of the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market than the creation of super-sized producers and buyers. The $70 billion merger of Royal Dutch Shell and BG and the joint fuel procurement venture between Japan's top utilities, Tokyo Electric Power Co and Chubu Electric Power Co, are flip sides of the same coin. On the one hand Shell is trying to create a natural gas giant, with quality assets around the globe, able to bank on economies of scale and have the ability to meet the needs of a diverse range of clients.
Global LNG Prices Fall on Lacklustre Demand
Asian spot liquefied natural gas prices for March delivery fell sharply for a second week as traders said supply disruptions failed to derail the market's downward trajectory weighed by weak demand. The price of spot LNG fell to $8 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) on Friday from $9.00 last week. One bullish factor for the market was Yemen declaring force majeure on LNG deliveries from its Balhaf plant, as security deteriorated after the collapse of the government. Yet…
Tepco, Chubu Buying 6 LNG cargoes from Vitol
Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Co and Chubu Electric Power Co,, are expected to buy a total of six cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Vitol and GDF Suez in their first joint tender, three traders said on Friday. "They are waiting for the government to confirm," one of the traders said. Vitol and GDF Suez are expected to supply three cargoes each, the traders said. This is the first time the Japanese utilities have jointly tendered for LNG, aiming to reduce procurement costs for two of the world's biggest LNG buyers.
LNG Prices Hold Steady in Slow Trade
Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices were steady on Friday as a mild winter continued to curb demand from many of the traditional LNG destinations. The spot price <LNG-AS> for February was steady at about $10.00 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), in line with the previous week. Traders said, however, that prices were nominal given there was very limited activity. "The market is completely dead," said a trader, adding that winter temperatures were "very high" which had hit demand.
Chubu: No Need to Buy LNG on Spot Market this Winter
Japanese utility Chubu Electric Power Co has enough liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply to postpone tapping the spot market for the entire winter, its head of trading said on Wednesday. "We have no demand for spot LNG at this moment," Chubu's Hiroki Sato said. His comments drive home that demand from the world's top importing country is weak and stocks are high. Speaking on the sidelines of the CWC World LNG Summit in Paris, Sato said that although Chubu, the world's third-largest LNG importer…
Shell Announces LNG Sales Deal with Chubu Electric
Shell will begin supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to one of Japan’s leading electric companies from October 2014, in a deal that reinforces Shell’s position as a key LNG supplier in the country. Shell Eastern Trading (Pte) Ltd, a Singapore-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, signed a sales and purchase agreement today with Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. (Chubu Electric) to supply up to 12 cargoes of LNG a year for the next 20 years. Chubu Electric supplies power to central Japan’s Chubu region, a major manufacturing hub.
