Cheniere loses emission waiver at US LNG plants
US LNG company Cheniere has lost a request for a carveout from more stringent air emission limits that would have covered 62 gas-fired turbines at its two export terminals on the US Gulf Coast.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it has denied a request from Cheniere to write special air emission rules for the types of gas turbines it uses to liquefy natural gas at its 25mn t/yr Sabine Pass and 15mn t/yr Corpus Christi LNG export terminals. The agency cited the need to control emissions of formaldehyde to protect public health.
"Though EPA is denying Cheniere's request for a special subcategory to comply with the turbines rule, the agency will continue to work with them and with other companies as needed to assure they meet Clean Air Act obligations," the agency said.
Cheniere said it strongly disagrees with the decision but said it would work with state and federal regulators to ensure compliance. Cheniere said its "conviction remains" that the emissions from its gas-fired turbines do not pose a risk to public health, workers or the environment.
"Although this decision may result in unwarranted expenditures, we believe that the steps needed to come into full compliance will not result in a material financial or operational impact and that we will be able to continue to reliably supply LNG to customers and countries around the world," Cheniere said.
Cheniere did not respond to follow-up questions. Cheniere chief executive Jack Fusco, on an earnings call last month, said he believed that the situation was manageable. If EPA denied the company's request, Cheniere would likely work to negotiate "some type of consent decree" with state regulators, Fusco said on the call.
Industry analysts do not expect the decision will cause immediate disruptions at the Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi terminals, which last year exported nearly 2 Tcf of natural gas, or nearly 55pc of all US LNG exports, according to federal data. It is "unlikely" EPA will mandate broad service disruptions, analysts at Tudor Pickering Holt said today.
EPA first set formaldehyde emission limits for stationary combustion turbines in 2004, and at the time sought to exempt gas-fired turbines from that rule. But a federal court blocked the exemption for gas turbines in 2007. Even so, EPA kept the emission exemption for gas turbines until 9 March, when it imposed a 5 September compliance deadline that it expected would apply to 250 turbines built over the last two decades.
Cheniere earlier this year unsuccessfully asked EPA to suspend the regulations, which it said would be "counterproductive" to the push by President Joe Biden's administration to boost US LNG supplies and break Europe's reliance on Russian natural gas.
Cheniere also asked EPA to create a special subcategory of emission limits for the "platform-mounted" refrigeration compression turbines it uses at its Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi export terminals. Cheniere said its turbines have "unique" challenges to installing emission controls, justifying a special subcategory. EPA said it denied the request.
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Canada furthers investment in GHG reductions
Canada furthers investment in GHG reductions
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Scotland abandons 2030 climate target to focus on 2045
Scotland abandons 2030 climate target to focus on 2045
Edinburgh, 18 April (Argus) — The Scottish government is abandoning its 2030 target to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions after the UK's Climate Change Committee (CCC) said last month Scotland would not be able to meet it, but reiterated "unwavering commitment" to its 2045 net zero goal. Scotland had an ambitious interim target to reduce GHG emissions by 75pc by 2030 from a 1990 baseline and its legally binding 2045 net zero goal date is ahead of the rest of the UK. The CCC said in March that the nation was unlikely to meet its 2030 climate goals as "continued delays" in plans and policies mean the required actions to hit targets are now "beyond what is credible". And today, Scotland's cabinet secretary for net zero Mairi McAllan said that the government "accepts the CCC's recent re-articulations" that the "2030 target is out of reach". "We must now act to chart a course to 2045 at a pace and scale that is feasible, fair and just." She said that the government will bring forward "expediting legislation" to remove the 2030 target, calling it "a minor legislative change". McAllan said climate actions are backtracking at the UK level and blamed "severe budget restrictions" by the UK government and the "constrains of devolution". Scotland is a member nation of the UK, and the Scottish parliament has some devolved powers. But energy, for example, remains a reserved matter in the UK, and decisions — including licensing, regulation and policy — are taken by the UK parliament. She said that Scotland was trying to achieve societal and economic transformation with "one hand tied behind our back". Scotland's first minister Humza Yousaf said there was no intention to "roll back" on the target to achieve net zero emissions by 2045, saying that Scotland has made faster progress than any other nation in the UK during 2019-21, but that 2030 was a "stretched" target. McAllan said annual reporting on progress will be kept but by introducing a target approach based on "five-yearly carbon budgets" — a cap on the amount of GHG emitted over a five-year period — in a similar way to the rest of the UK. Scotland missed its annual emissions-reduction target in 2021, for the eighth time in the last 12 years. The CCC's interim chair Piers Forster said today that the removal of the 2030 target was "deeply disappointing". "We are reassured that the net zero target remains in place but interim targets and plans to deliver against them are what makes any net zero commitment credible," he said. McAllan announced a series of measures that the government wants to introduce, including reducing methane emissions in farming, a Scotland-wide integrated transport ticketing system, and the quadrupling of electric car charging points. But it is unclear what will happen to Scotland's delayed climate strategy, which was due at the end of 2023. By Caroline Varin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
NSTA fines Neo Energy for North Sea methane venting
NSTA fines Neo Energy for North Sea methane venting
London, 18 April (Argus) — UK offshore regulator the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has fined UK upstream firm Neo Energy £100,000 for breaching its methane venting permit at North Sea fields. The company emitted 1,200t of methane in excess of its permit from the Donan, Lochranza and Balloch fields in the first nine months of 2022. Neo had permission to vent 378t of methane from installations at these fields in that year, but incorrectly assigned volumes vented through unlit flares to its flaring consent, the NSTA found. Neo showed a "lack of oversight" by failing to detect the licence breach for seven months, NSTA said. The company reached its annual limit by 21 March 2022, but continued venting without authorisation until October 2022. The company said it did not update its flare and vent allocation process to reflect NSTA guidance updated in 2021, and as such was still assigning its flaring and venting according to previous guidance. Neo becomes the fourth company to be fined by the NSTA over breaches relating to flaring and venting consents. The regulator in 2022 sanctioned Equinor and EnQuest and last year fined Spanish utility Repsol for consent breaches. The four companies have been fined a total of £475,000 for the breaches. And the regulator in February had four more investigations under way for breaches of vent consents. Neo Energy's fine is equivalent to £2.98/t of CO2e emitted, assuming a global warming potential of methane that is 28 times that of CO2 on a 100-year time scale, compared with a UK emissions trading system price of £34.40/t of CO2e on 17 April. The UK offshore industry targets a 50pc reduction in production emissions of greenhouse gases by 2030, from a 2018 baseline. And it intends to end all routine venting and flaring by that year. The regulator last year warned that "further, sustained action" would be needed to reach the 2030 emissions reduction goal. Methane emissions from offshore gas fell in recent years, to 1mn t in 2022 from 1.6mn t in 2018, according to NSTA data. Roughly half of methane emissions in the sector in recent years has been produced by venting, while flaring makes up about a quarter of the emissions. The UK government is a member of the Global Methane Pledge group of countries that aims to reduce methane emissions by 30pc by 2030 from a 2020 baseline. By Rhys Talbot Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia’s Queensland legislates emissions targets
Australia’s Queensland legislates emissions targets
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