COMMERCIAL & INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION/ PERMANENT LNG INSTALLATION

Use of LNG to replace other liquid fuels (propane, distillate fuel oil, bunker/residual fuel) is increasing worldwide. There are several incentives driving these conversions. Initially after the shale gas boom in the USA, the incentives were largely economic as natural gas prices plummeted, also bringing down the cost of LNG vs. conventional liquid fuels. The rapid growth of both international sources of LNG, as well as the conversion of North American LNG import terminals to export terminals with the advent of shale gas, continue to make LNG an economic fuel choice in remote locations and countries that do not have a developed refining and liquid fuel distribution infrastructure. As liquid fuel prices have also come down with lower crude prices in more developed countries, the price differential with LNG has narrowed. However, new emission guidelines worldwide for off-road diesel, locomotive and marine engines continue to provide strong incentives for LNG and natural gas conversion.

Challenge:

The client is an international dairy processor and cheese producer. Its operations are energy-intensive, and for many years, the client had utilized propane for its thermal processing requirements at its Idaho facility. In early 2009, the client experienced rapid escalation of its propane price, which had happened on several other occasions, starting in 2006. Although the facility was far from any natural gas pipelines, the client recognized that natural gas prices (and resultant LNG prices) would be relatively stable for the foreseeable future, given the boom in shale gas production. As a result, the client committed to a permanent LNG supply solution from Stabilis in early 2011.

STABILIS Solution:

Stabilis was contracted in early 2011 for LNG supply as well as engineering, procurement and construction services to design, build, own, operate and maintain (“DBOOM”) a 50,000-gallon LNG storage and vaporization system including odorization. Stabilis worked with equipment suppliers and local civil, mechanical and electrical contractors to bring the system online and on schedule in the summer of 2011

Results:

The LNG “customer station” is owned, operated and maintained by Stabilis Energy. The system has operated safely without incident and reliably since commissioning, with an on-stream factor in excess of 99.9% over the past five years. Stabilis has developed and executed similar projects with multiple other clients and is prepared to assist customers in developing and constructing large customer on-site LNG storage solutions.