Two interconnection projects for Crete to be ‘developed concurrently’
Two interconnection projects to link Crete with the mainland’s grid are expected to be launched in 2020 and 2024, respectively, according to an updated ten-year investment prepared by power grid operator IPTO, submitted last week by the operator to RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy.
IPTO has noted that planning and licensing procedures for the interconnection projects are being carried out concurrently.
According to the IPTO plan, a deep-sea survey will be conducted within the first half of 2017, while environmental regulations for the project are also expected within the first six months of the year.
A tender for the first interconnection project’s construction is expected to be held this October and contracts with developers will be signed in May, 2018, according to IPTO’s updated ten-year plan. Completion of the first of the two Cretan interconnection projects is expected by the first half of 2020, the operator believes.
Environmental studies and regulations for the second interconnection are expected to be completed by the end of 2018, while the project’s completion date has been set for 2024, IPTO noted
Saudi renewable energy projects advance
The Saudi government has opened bidder qualification in its push for renewable energy in electric power generation.
The Renewable Energy Project Development Office of the Saudi Ministry of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources has requested qualifications for two projects: a 300-Mw photovoltaic facility at Sakaka in Al Jouf Province and a 400-Mw wind farm at Midyan in Tabuk Province.
The request applies to “any company (or consortium of companies) with the technical and financial capabilities to execute projects of this scale,” the government said in a press statement.
As part of an economic diversification program called Vision 2030, the National Renewable Energy Program calls for installation of 9.5 Gw of generation capacity fueled by renewable energy by 2023 (OGJ Online, June 1, 2016). The government has an interim target of 3.45 Gw of renewable power by 2020 under a related transportation program.
According to the US Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook, Saudi Arabia had about 66 Gw of installed capacity in 2014.
Fuel oil and diesel supply about half the energy for Saudi power generation. Natural gas supplies the rest.
During summertime peak demand, oil use for power generation can exceed 900,000 b/d.
Qatar’s Emir inaugurates QR 3 bn Laffan Refinery 2 project
Qatar Petroleum president and CEO and Qatargas chairman Saad Sherida Al Kaabi said in a speech at the inauguration ceremony: “The refining capacity will double to 292,000 bpd, which is equal to 100 million barrels per year, making Ras Laffan Industrial City one of the biggest condensate refining locations in the world.”
On the inauguration of Laffan Refinery 2 while oil prices continue declining, Al Kaabi said the oil market is always experiencing price changes, adding that the project was inaugurated in accordance with its schedule and will work over 25 years. Production would be directed to meet domestic consumption Al Kaabi said, adding it is difficult to determine the percentage of export surplus because it depends on domestic demand.
He explained that the design of Laffan Refinery 2 was identical to that of Laffan 1, adding that Laffan 2 would play a big role in the development of the oil and gas sector in Qatar.
Qatargas CEO Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani said: “This refinery is a demonstration of Qatargas’ ability to manage and operate our resources safely, efficiently and reliably and further strengthens our reputation for value creation and operational excellence.”
Laffan Refinery 2 not only creates value for Qatar and its shareholders but also adheres to the highest environmental standards through low gas emissions, zero flaring during normal operation and zero waste water discharge to the sea. In addition, it includes a wastewater recycling facility which treats industrial water from Laffan Refinery 1 and Laffan Refinery 2.
The recycled water is then reused as boiler feed water and cooling water, thereby reducing water consumption and eliminating the discharge of treated industrial water. The new refinery processes condensate to produce five high-quality products.
These products support the energy and industry sectors by providing energy sources and raw feedstock material, namely naphtha, kerojet (A-1), diesel and liquefied petroleum gas in the form of propane and butane.
Contract let for Uzbekistan gas processing complex
Russia’s privately held PJSC Lukoil and Uzbekistan’s National Holding Co. Uzbekneftegaz, through a contractor, have let a contract to Frames Group BV, Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, to provide desalting equipment for their jointly owned Kandym gas processing complex now under construction in southwestern Uzbekistan’s province of Bukhara, about 520 km southwest of Tashkent.
Frames has completed fabrication and delivery of two desalters to the construction site, where they will be installed to remove emulsified water and salt from unstabilized condensate as a measure to minimize corrosion and other undesirable impacts to downstream equipment, Frames said.
Fabrication and delivery of the two desalters—each with an inner diameter of 2.4 m and tangent-to-tangent length of 2.2 m—completes Frames’ scope of work on the equipment-supply contract it received in August 2015 from South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering Co. Ltd., Seoul, lead contractor for the Kandym gas processing plant project, the service provider said.
Currently the largest investment project in Uzbekistan, the gas complex will house a gas treatment plant equipped to process 8.1 billion cu m/year of sour natural gas from the Kandym development’s six gas condensate fields: Kandym, Kuvachi-Alat, Akkum, Parsanal, Khoji, and West Khoji.
As of late third-quarter 2016, steel structures for the gas processing plant already were in place, with several batches of large processing equipment also delivered, Lukoil said in a Sept. 24, 2016, release.
Lukoil holds 90% interest in the Kandym project and Uzbekneftegaz holds 10% interest.
Sasol says relations with Moz in ‘good space’ as new oil-find notice is issued
Sasol joint president and CEO Stephen Cornell has described the group’s relations with the Mozambique government as being in a “good space”, despite the country’s current fiscal difficulties, as well as periodic criticism that the country is not benefiting fully from the South African energy and chemicals group’s investment activities.
Cornell says that, besides ongoing investment activities, Sasol is also part of efforts to support the Mozambican authorities navigate their way through the prevailing financial challenges.
Mozambique has confirmed the deterioration of its macroeconomic and fiscal positions, as well as government’s capacity to make debt payments being under strain. The country’s total public debt, which is mostly denominated in foreign currency, increased to what the International Monetary Fund described as “distressed levels” in 2016, owing to the addition of previously undisclosed loans worth $1.4-billion, the equivalent of 10.7% of gross domestic product.
Sasol is nevertheless pushing ahead with a $1.4-billion investment programme in support of a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), granted in early 2016. The programme covers oil and gas development areas in southern Mozambique.
The JSE-listed company drilled four gas and oil wells – two in Temane and two in Inhassoro – during the six months to December 31, 2016, and subsequently issued a notice of discovery after finding oil (together with gas) while drilling for gas in the Temane permit area.
The current focus of the 13-well campaign, comprising five gas wells, seven oil wells and a water well, is on oil prospects; Sasol is confident of adding oil production to its gas-dominated Mozambique portfolio in the coming two to three years.
“Our feeling is that we are in a good space – we want to do more, they are critical to us and, I believe, we are very important to them. And, from our standpoint, [the relationship] hasn’t really changed at all in the last few years,” Cornell says.
“All the feedback we have from the government of Mozambique is very supportive.”
His statement follows after the re-emergence of reports suggesting that Sasol’s initial contract to mine Mozambican gas and transport it to South Africa, primarily for conversion to fuel and chemicals at its Secunda and Sasolburg facilities, was too heavily skewed in favour of the company.
Countering this argument, Sasol joint president and CEO Bongani Nqwababa reports that, since 2004, more than $2-billion has been invested in developing gas fields, a central processing facility in Temane, as well as the gas pipeline to South Africa, which was recently expanded through a project known as Loop Line 2.
From 2004 to 2016, more than $1-billion was delivered to in taxes, royalties and social investments, as well as through profit sharing and dividends paid to State-owned entities, he adds. Further, goods and services worth $831-million were procured from Mozambican suppliers.
“We remain committed to our growth plans . . . and we will continue to partner with the country's government and other stakeholders on projects that will help stimulate growth,” Nqwababa states, while adding that Sasol is confident that the economics to develop the PSA licence area remain positive.
Sasol expects to complete its 13-well drilling programme by the end of 2018.