The fourth session of the International Conference “Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan 2023” (OGT 2023) highlighted the issues of accelerating the drive towards monetization and diversification of new energy resources.
The session discussed the issues of “green” and renewable energy, focusing on hydrogen and its role as a fuel of the future. The discussions were attended by the leadership of the Ministry of Energy, research institutes, international energy and technology companies – Topsoe, Daewoo, Çalik Enerji, BASF Middle East Chemicals LLC, Stamicarbon.
Here are some highlights from the presentations of the speakers related to the directions of monetization of natural gas in Turkmenistan:
- Turkmenistan’s abundant hydrocarbon reserves serve as the main raw material for the country’s chemical industry. Over the past five years, several major projects have been implemented in Turkmenistan in cooperation with foreign companies, including a plant for the production of ammonia and urea in Garabogaz, a polymer plant in Kiyanli, and the Akhal plant for the production of gasoline from natural gas (GTG).
There are plans to implement projects to create new facilities designed to deepen the processing of gas raw materials – for example, a plant for the production of ammonia with a production capacity of 660,000 tons and carbamide with a capacity of 1,150,000 tons in the Balkan province; construction of a workshop for the production of phosphorus fertilizers with a capacity of 300,000 tons per year at the Turkmenabad chemical Plant; construction and design of the second stage of the plant for production of gasoline from natural gas (GTG). All planned enterprises will be equipped with low-carbon technical process technologies. One of these technologies is the production of “blue ammonia”.
- Close cooperation exists between Turkmenistan’s electric power industry and oil and gas sector. The country has 12 power plants with a total capacity of 6,943 megawatts. Natural gas is traditionally the main fuel for power plants in Turkmenistan.
A project is underway to build a 10-megawatt solar and wind power plant in the western region of Turkmenistan. To this end, the electric power sector signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of renewable energy sources with Masdar (UAE).
- Danish technology company Topsoe (renamed Haldor Topsoe), a leading developer and supplier of technologies for decarbonization, monetization of natural gas, hopes to receive an investment decision on the second GTG plant in Turkmenistan in the near future. As part of the development of the project of the second GTG plant, Topsoe is working with partners from the State Concern “Turkmenhimiya”, “Kawasaki Heavy Industries” and “Itochu”. The project will be based on the experience of the first plant, but the project will be developed taking into account the task of reducing CO2 emissions.
At the conference, a speaker from Topsoe announced a number of technical recommendations for optimizing the GTG-2 project in Turkmenistan – the use of renewable energy sources and, if possible, flare gas, the introduction of water-saving technologies through air cooling systems instead of water.
- The Korean company Daewoo E&C signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the State Concern “Turkmenhimiya” in November last year and joint projects are being implemented on the basis of this document. The first project is the construction of an ammonia–carbamide plant in the Balkan province. The second one is a plant for the production of phosphate fertilizers with a capacity of 300,000 tons per year. The projects are financed by funds raised from credit agencies in Korea and Europe.
To date, Daewoo E&C has studied the construction sites and completed the feasibility study. The company hopes to conclude EPC contracts (turnkey contracts) with the Turkmen side by the end of 2023 and start construction next year. The ammonia-carbamide plant planned for construction in Turkmenistan will be the first plant in Central Asia to produce blue ammonia. More importantly, the company will contribute to improving the ecology of the region through carbon sequestration technologies, which will capture carbon emissions from all plants in Kiyanli, Balkan Province of Turkmenistan.
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The session 4 “Accelerating the Drive to Monetize and Diversify New Energy Resources” was moderated by Claire Godard, Analytics manager, Middle East and Africa, S&P Global Commodity Insights.
The speakers were:
- Keynote address: Dovrangeldi Sapbaev – Chairman, State Concern “Turkmenhimiya”
- Annageldi Saparov – Minister of Energy of Turkmenistan – Financing the Diversification of New Energy Sources
- Paul Fennell – Professor, Clean Energy, Imperial College London
- Rickard Vannby – Licensing Director, Topsoe – Options for Decarbonization of Fuel Production from Natural Gas
- Min Manjun – Director, Daewoo E&C Branch in Turkmenistan
- Nadejda Khamrakulova – Economic Affairs Officer, SED, UNECE
- Anıl Alisbah – Turkmenistan Coordinator, Çalık Enerji
- Ashraf Abu Faris – Senior Technical Market Manager, Middle East and Central Asia, BASF Middle East Chemicals LLC
- Sergey Abramov – Licensing Manager for CIS and Central Asia, Stamicarbon
///nCa, 27 October 2023
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