Japan’s city gas supplier and LNG importer, Tokyo Gas, and compatriot trading house Mitsui & Co joined forces to deliver a bio-LNG cargo from Sempra Infrastructure’s Cameron LNG terminal in the US to Japan.
Tokyo Gas said in a statement on Friday that it has reached an agreement with Mitsui on a transaction related to biomethane produced overseas.
“Based on this deal, about 40,000 cubic meters of biomethane (gas equivalent) derived from biogas emitted from landfills in the United States was regarded to be liquefied as a component of LNG,” the firm said.
Tokyo Gas said it took first delivery of this product on March 19 at its Ohgishima LNG terminal in Japan.
The firm did not name the product as bio-LNG but liquefied biomethane is also called bio-LNG.
Tokyo Gas said that the Sempra’s Cameron LNG export facility in Louisiana, where Mitsui is a shareholder, shipped the product.
Also, the 2019-built 174,000-cbm, Marvel Kite, chartered by Mitsui, delivered the bio-LNG cargo.
Slashing emissions
Tokyo Gas said the aim of this initiative is to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Since biomethane is identical with the methane used as the main ingredient of city gas, it can be used in the existing LNG and city gas infrastructure, it said.
This helps make progress toward achieving carbon neutrality while minimizing additional cost, the firm said.
Through this initiative, Tokyo Gas and Mitsui will work together to build an international supply chain for biomethane, according to Tokyo Gas.
The firm noted that Mitsui’s initiatives to provide its customers with decarbonization solutions include investment and participation in biomethane production in the US.
Mitsui said in a August last year it has acquired a 33.3 percent stake in Terreva Renewables, a US renewable natural gas (RNG) production and sales company.
Terreva currently processes methane gas generated in landfills at five locations in North America, in order to produce and sell RNG.
As per Tokyo Gas, the firm is part of a consortium looking into the possibility of producing synthetic methane (e-methane) in the US, and liquefying it at Sempra’s Cameron LNG plant. Sempra Infrastructure joined this consortium last year.
Tokyo Gas said in a separate statement on March 19 it has decided to establish Tokyo Gas GX1 in the US in April 2024 to develop an e-methane business.