France-based market research company ReportLinker has released a report that looks into small-scale LNG initiatives and forecasts its growth.
The ‘Small-scale LNG Market – Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 – 2026)’ report is available here .
The report looks into how the pandemic has severely impacted the market due to disruption in the supply chain, reduction in energy consumption, and discouraging investments in newer technologies.
Where large-scale LNG plants faced increasing pressure to showcase returns to investors, small-scale LNG initiatives were increasingly backed up.
The small-scale LNG plant with a capacity of less than one metric tonne per annum (mpta) can be constructed within three years, while large-scale LNG plants can take up to ten years.
Some of the major players of the small-scale LNG market include the Linde Group, Wartsila, Royal Dutch Shell, Engie, and Gazprom.
Increasing demand for LNG in bunkering, transportation, and off-grid power is expected to drive the small-scale LNG market in the coming years.
LNG is demanded as a fuel for ships and heavy-duty trucks. This might result in transportation applications dominating the small-scale LNG market.
As of 2020, there were 75 LNG-fueled ships in operation, and 155 LNG-fueled ships were on order, according to SEA-LNG.
In January 2020, the International Maritime Organization began implementing a new regulation by placing a 0.5 per cent global sulfur cap on marine fuels. LNG has become a more viable option as a marine fuel since it emits almost 90 per cent lower NOx and no SOx.
The demand for small-scale LNG infrastructure for the transportation segment is likely to grow and significantly dominate the market during the forecast period, the report says.
The majority of the demand is coming from European countries, like Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Asia-Pacific is expected to dominate the growth of the small-scale market during the forecast period.
The region has been a pioneer in the implementation of small-scale LNG projects across the globe. Interest in the use of small-scale LNG has increased in recent years, as the demand for natural gas continues to increase in countries like China, India, Singapore, Japan, and others.