AG&P to lend expertise for dev’t of LNG sector

MANILA, Philippines -  Philippine-based Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Co. (AG&P) is banking on its business model of modular liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply network to help develop the country’s LNG sector.

AG&P vice president for LNG technology Matthew Baxter said the country as an archipelagic nation currently presents a unique challenge for the distribution of gas energy.

A small to mid-scale solution will play a critical role moving the LNG sector forward as this will enable efficient and viable distribution and last-mile delivery of gas to LNG demand centers scattered across the country. 

Currently, power delivery models are too large and uneconomical to meet the relatively smaller-scale energy requirements of regional areas outside major metropolitan areas. 

“The current model of LNG delivery in the Philippines relies on bigger and complex gas pipeline network that makes it not ideal to meet the often smaller energy requirements of select regional demand areas,” Baxter said.

“AG&P is capitalizing on this, combining its modularization capabilities with the latest technologies to develop the complete spectrum of ‘plug-and-play’ - small to mid-scale - LNG infrastructure assets that will help drive down costs and accelerate last-mile delivery to under-served LNG demand centers across the country,” he said.

The company official also stressed the nearing depletion of the Malampaya natural gas field in Palawan, which is the country’s sole gas-to-power energy source.

Malampaya currently supplies the LNG needs of three major gas-fired power plants in Luzon with a combined capacity of roughly 3,000 MW, namely the Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo gas plants of the Lopez Group and Ilijan plant under San Miguel Group. It also supplies to the 100-MW Avion plant and the 414-MW San Gabriel plant also of the Lopez Group.

However, a small-scale LNG delivery network including floating LNG storage, on-shore regasification units, and small-sized power plants, will enable energy to be tailored to the needs of the archipelago from as little as five megawatts of power up to traditional-sized plants.

“For the Philippines, small-scale delivery systems including small LNG shuttle vessels of less than 8,000m³ that can penetrate shallow waters, re-gasification terminals and smaller power plants would be extremely efficient as they are economical, scalable and readily re-deployable to meet changing demand,” Baxter said.

AG&P banks on its unique position as an end-to-end LNG infrastructure provider for the distribution of LNG to help bridge the gap. 

It is only one of three companies worldwide to have a global technical and licensing agreement for membrane tank design from the French giant, GTT. In addition, AG&P owns a major stake in GAS Entec, the leading Korea-based engineering firm and has entered a joint venture with Risco Energy Group of Indonesia. 

“Standardization (of products and processes) coupled with modular construction (of LNG infrastructure assets) will be the circuit-breaker that will bring power projects in the Philippines online, enabling customers to make the switch to LNG as a clean and affordable energy source,” AG&P president Albert Altura said.