Four firms launch study for e-methane exports from Australia to Japan

Four firms launch study for e-methane exports from Australia to Japan

Japan’s Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Toho Gas, and Australia’s Santos have signed a deal to conduct pre-front end engineering and design study to produce e-methane in Australia and ship it via Santos-operated LNG terminals to Japan.

Back in November 2023, Santos and Tokyo Gas joined forces to evaluate the potential of e-methane production in the Cooper Basin in Australia with a view to ship it to Japan.

E-methane is synthetic methane (CH4) produced by combining green hydrogen and CO2 obtained from carbon capture of industrial emissions.

Tokyo Gas said in a statement last week that this pre-FEED work is based on the results of the feasibility study undertaken by the firm and Santos since November last year.

The project aims to export more than 130,000 tons of e-methane per year, equivalent to about 180 million cbm of city gas per year, to Japan from 2030 at the earliest, it said.

The partners plan to send the e-methane from Moomba in the Cooper Basin via existing pipelines to the Santos-operated Darwin LNG export plant and the Gladstone LNG plant.

Once liquefied, the supplies can be shipped to Japan via LNG carriers.

For this pre-FEED initiative, Tokyo Gas has secured a subsidy of Japan’s Ministry of Economy,
Trade, and Industry (METI).

Osaka Gas also said in a separate statement it has secured a subsidy from METI.