JSC NC «KazMunayGas» Signs Memorandum of Understanding to Supply LNG to Electricity Producer in Eastern Africa for the Mining Industry

KazMunayGas signs a memorandum of understanding to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Eastern Africa’s electricity producer for electricity production in the mining industry. Currently, around 44% of Africa is currently off-grid, with rural and remote areas lacking access to power, and LNG has the potential to help meet the demand for electrification through small-scale power generation. Virtual pipelines have the potential to innovate the supply chain by tapping into multiple gas sources and distributing LNG regardless of conventional pipeline routes. Infrastructure inflexibility is limiting the possibility of utilising Africa’s abundant natural gas resources to provide new energy supplies to areas where demand is greatest. Virtual pipelines are also a viable option for locations where the population is too high, where new pipeline infrastructure is not feasible, where demand is too low, or where supply is only required for a short period of time.

The source of a virtual gas pipeline is a liquefaction terminal, which compresses natural gas into compressed natural gas and LNG, ready for injecting into a variety of specialised containers to be loaded onto trucks, trains, canal barges, or ships.

Drivers Behind Virtual Pipelines

On the supply side, greater availability of gas combined with its increasing affordability and increasing numbers of liquefaction and regasification plants underpins the growth in virtual pipelines. On the demand side, customers are increasingly seeking cleaner low carbon solutions to meet their power needs in response to ever-tougher emission controls and the climate agenda.