DNG Energy, a South African LNG infrastructure provider, will start LNG bunkering in South Africa’s largest bunkering port, Algoa Bay. The initiative aims to improve access to LNG bunkers for commercial vessels on a trading route, that sees 56,000 vessels transit the region every year. Bunkering operations are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2020.
The bunkering licence within Algoa Bay comes after the commissioning of South African Shipyards to build an 8,000 tonne LNG bunker barge to service the area. Planned to come online in 2020, it is the largest vessel by weight ever to be built on the African continent.
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DNG Energy is also investing over $5 billion by 2020 in infrastructure programmes across South Africa, Nigeria and Mozambique, funded through a blend of owned and institutional infrastructure capital. It will also drive economic growth and sustainability within the regions and the industries it serves.
Aldworth Mbalati, Founder and CEO, DNG Energy, stated on the occasion:
As a major global maritime hub, the development of LNG bunkering infrastructure in Algoa Bay is therefore a natural step in expanding Africa’s LNG value chain, directly supporting the growth of LNG-fuelled shipping on multiple trade routes and delivering against the industry’s, as well as Africa’s, sustainability goals
Today, the African LNG market holds 7.1% of proven global gas reserves and it is expected to contribute approximately 10% of global production growth through to 2024. Rovuma Offshore Area 1 Block (Area 1) in Mozambique is the single largest LNG project ever approved in Africa and one of the world’s biggest natural gas fields.
DNG Energy believes gas is the key to help South Africa meet its increasing energy demands in a responsible way, as well as moving closer towards a decarbonised economy.
Aldworth Mbalati also added that the abundance of natural gas reserves on the African coast enables competitive pricing and reduces supply risks. From a physical bunkering perspective, as LNG simply vaporises if it escapes, it removes the risk of oil spills during ship-to-ship transfer.
