LNG
Overview
LNG's role as a key feedstock is well established as it helps manage both input costs and carbon emissions. Heavy industrial users' drive to achieve net zero targets has added a new dimension to how and where it is being deployed. Overall, its use is expected to increase and is tipped to become the strongest-growing fossil fuel.
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Japan's Osaka Gas to build 623MW CCGT unit
Japan's Osaka Gas to build 623MW CCGT unit
Tokyo, 7 March (Argus) — Japanese gas retailer Osaka Gas has agreed to develop a 622.6MW combined-cycle gas-turbine (CCGT) unit in Ehime, Hyogo prefecture, which it plans to bring on line by 2031. Osaka Gas reached a deal with state-owned Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) and financial firms SMFL Mirai Partners and Mizuho Leasing to build the unit. The four companies set up a joint venture called Himeji Natural Gas Power Generation No.3 in December last year and aim to start commercial operations at the unit in the April 2030 to March 2031 fiscal year. The CCGT unit will be designed to use LNG as a generation fuel, but will also consume e-methane in the future, Osaka Gas said. The new gas-fired power unit was awarded to Osaka Gas under Japan's first auction for long-term zero-emissions power capacity last year. The unit is one of 10 planned gas-fired units with a combined capacity of almost 6GW that were awarded in the auction. The auctions plan to target mostly clean power sources, with 4GW of nuclear, battery storage, ammonia, hydrogen, biomass and hydroelectric capacity awarded in the first round. But they also cover plants burning regasified LNG as an immediate measure to secure stable power supplies, so long as they become a net zero power source by 2050. Osaka Gas has participated in several e-methane projects both in Japan and overseas. Osaka Gas has set a target to switch 1pc of its city gas to carbon-free e-methane in the 2030-31 fiscal year. By Reina Maeda Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
LNG truck loadings slide at Gate, Elengy terminals
LNG truck loadings slide at Gate, Elengy terminals
London, 6 March (Argus) — Demand for LNG as a road fuel at the Netherlands' Gate and France operator Elengy's Montoir and Fos terminals decreased in 2024 compared with earlier years, at least in part because trucks operating in Germany are increasingly choosing to run on bio-LNG which is available in only limited quantities at these terminals. The number of truck loadings at the Netherlands' Gate terminal decreased by about 30pc in 2024 compared with 2023, commercial manager Stefaan Adriaens said at last month's small-scale LNG summit in Milan. That is despite the terminal having launched two new truck loading bays in September. Truck loadings have similarly decreased at French LNG operator Elengy's Montoir and Fos-sur-Mer terminals. The number of used slots at Montoir totalled 2,676 in 2024, down from 2,968 in 2022, according to Elengy data, although the terminal underwent a lengthy maintenance period in 2024. Aggregate loadings at Fos Cavaou and Tonkin decreased to 7,812 in 2024 from 8,822 in 2022. The number of available truck loading slots at all three terminals increased to 19,400 from 18,800 over the same period. The fall in truck loadings at Gate and the Elengy terminals is likely to reflect vehicles choosing to load at other terminals in northwest Europe. About 85pc of the 9,000 LNG truck loading slots sold at Belgium's Zeebrugge terminal for 2024 were used, terminal operator Fluxys told Argus . The 7,650 trucks loaded in 2024 marks a step up from 6,530 in 2022, according to the latest available data published by Gas LNG Europe. Fluxys refused to say how many of the 8,000 slots sold for 2023 were used. Shell also started operations at a 100,000 t/yr bio-LNG liquefaction plant in Cologne in April , which is capable of loading 4,000-5,000 trucks a year. This plant is closer to more LNG refuelling stations than Gate and Zeebrugge, which cuts down on inland freight costs. Many of the LNG-powered trucks operating in Germany are choosing to operate on bio-LNG, market participants said, which is likely to have weighed on the demand for loadings of conventional LNG from the Gate and Elengy terminals. Gate's bio-LNG capacity is limited to 100,000 t/yr at present, all of which was sold out in 2024, while Elengy does not yet provide bio-LNG services at its terminals. Adriaens said in December that 72pc of trucked LNG in Germany is bio-LNG. The Gate and Elengy terminals have experienced waning demand for LNG as a road fuel even though the number of LNG-fuelled trucks has increased each successive year since 2020, according to data from the European Commission's alternative fuels observatory ( see truck graph ). About 10,700 LNG-fuelled trucks were in operation across the EU in 2024, up from just 6,000 in 2020. Although the number of LNG-powered trucks on the roads has increased in recent years, the registration of new vehicles has slowed. About 1,580 new LNG-powered trucks were registered in 2024, down from a high of 2,022 in 2021. Registrations of LNG-fuelled vehicles are still recovering from a sharp drop in 2022, when hub prices across Europe spiked ( see price graph ). Adriaens said that the extreme prices of this period have discouraged the use of LNG as a road fuel and weighed on the number of orders being made for LNG-powered vehicles. By Cerys Edwards Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
China to use LNG to cool computer power centres
China to use LNG to cool computer power centres
Shanghai, 4 March (Argus) — Construction of China's first LNG intelligent computing centre project has begun in Zhuhai of Guangdong province, the local government said on 3 March, with the aim to utilise LNG cold energy for cooling. Intelligent computing power is key to advancing artificial intelligence (AI) technology. But the huge energy consumption of computing power centres has been limiting its development. The LNG intelligent computing centre can reduce electricity consumption needed for cooling by more than 50pc compared with traditional intelligent computing centres. This greatly reduces operating costs and carbon emissions. The Zhuhai LNG Intelligent Computing Centre plans to build 1 exaFLOP — a unit used to measure how fast a computer can perform floating-point operations — of intellectual computing power, with the first half expected to be put into operation by the third quarter of 2025. China's intelligent computing power hit 725.3 exaFLOPS in 2024, an increase of 74pc from 2023. The country's intelligent computing power is expected to reach 1,037.3 exaFLOPS in 2025, up by 43pc from 2024, the Chinese People's Government said on 17 February. This is another new field of cold energy utilisation in China after the use of LNG cold energy for power generation. Chinese state-owned refiner CNOOC plans to build cryogenic or cold energy power generation plants at its 3mn t/yr Jiangsu, 6mn t/yr Zhejiang, 6.8mn t/yr Dapeng and 3.5mn t/yr Zhuhai terminals. The total power generation capacity of these projects is projected at about 100mn kWh/yr, the firm said in June 2023 . But the company did not provide a specific timeline. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Japan thermal power capacity to fall despite cold snap
Japan thermal power capacity to fall despite cold snap
Osaka, 3 March (Argus) — Japan's thermal power generation capacity is expected to fall in the week to 9 March, despite the return of colder weather. This would encourage power producers to increase utilisation rates at available thermal units to meet heating demand. The power sector plans to add around 5.2GW of thermal capacity over 3-9 March, with the closure of 9.5GW outstripping the return of 4.3GW, according to Argus' survey based on Japan Electric Power Exchange (Jepx) data. The difference incorporates the net decrease in gas-fired capacity of 3.3GW, coal-fed capacity of 394MW and oil-fed capacity of 1.6GW. Japan's power sector has entered the spring maintenance season, taking advantage of a seasonal fall in electricity demand in line with a gradual rise in temperatures. Large parts of the country experienced warmer than usual weather over the past week. But temperatures are predicted to plunge this week, with the minimum temperatures in central Tokyo forecasted at 2°C on 4 March and 1°C on 5 March, down from the 7.9°C on 2 March, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The Tokyo area, as well as the nearby Tohoku area, are expected to secure a 9.8pc surplus in electricity supply for 4 March, still above the ideal reserve level of 8pc, according to a notice released on 28 February by the Organisation for Cross-regional Co-ordination of Transmission Operators (Occto). But Occto has called on power producers to prepare to increase output, which it will request if the reserve level falls to 7.5pc at the time of peak demand. Bidding demand for day-ahead contracts on Jepx totalled 1.13TWh for deliveries on 4 March, up by 8.4pc from the previous day, while supplies fell by 2.4pc to 1.07TWh. Deals rose by 5.2pc to 831GWh. Day-ahead system-wide prices averaged ¥18.86/kWh ($125.67/MWh), up from ¥17.01/kWh over the same period. By Motoko Hasegawa Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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