Under the recently signed and exclusive memorandum of understanding (MoU), Pilbara Clean Fuels (PCF) and Oceania Marine Energy will work collaboratively to provide a low-carbon footprint LNG production and marine bunkering capability at Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Located at the world’s largest iron ore export port, the development concept for a mid-scale eLNG plant will provide an Australian LNG fuel supply capability through a new facility for the conversion of pipeline natural gas to LNG. The project was created in response to market demand for cleaner marine bunker fuel for iron ore carrier vessels which conduct round-trip voyages from Port Hedland.
At present it is estimated that the base plant will have a capacity of 0.5 metric tons per annum (Mtpa), with market analysis for Port Hedland showing there could be a potential demand of 1.0Mtpa by 2030.
The planned plant will be fully electrified with outsourced power supplied from mostly renewable sources. Through the plant’s design, the pair intend to greatly reduce emissions when compared to conventional LNG plants. This will enable round-trip LNG bunkering in Port Hedland to achieve much lower overall greenhouse gas lifecycle emissions than alternative options.
The LNG refueling concept is based on the ship-to-ship bunkering of vessels while anchoring off of Port Hedland.
“We are pleased to have formed the collaborative relationship with OME,” commented Robert Malabar, managing director, PCF. “The partnership provides a truly end-to-end development and implementation capability for LNG marine bunkering at Port Hedland. We believe the reduced GHG lifecycle profile of the concept, compared to the status quo, will fuel lively debate among stakeholders concerning the overall economic and environmental benefit and ‘value-add’ to WA’s iron ore resources through this attractive application of the State’s natural gas.”
Oceania and PCF’s collaboration heralds the beginning of a new decarbonization initiative in Western Australia, enabling a much-needed lower-carbon fuel source for shipping,” said Nick Bentley, managing director, Oceania. “The Oceania and PCF collaboration is aimed at providing a supply capability for low-carbon footprint LNG, for the first time available on route to the Australia-Asia iron ore shipping fleets. Together we are excited to participate in Australia’s primary green corridor for shipping, supporting significant emission reductions across the mining and maritime sectors.”
