Snam and SIAD have formed a new technological collaboration that will see the development of small- and medium-sized plants for the liquefaction of natural gas and biomethane on a global scale, on behalf of a third-party customer.
Signed last week (10th March) by Marco Alverà, CEO of Snam and Roberto Sestini, Chair of SIAD, the agreement aims to foster the use of LNG and Bio-LNG as alternative fuels for sustainable mobility and other end uses.
According to a statement, the plants proposed by Snam and SIAD will be modular and standardised, with capacities ranging from 50 kilo-tonnes per year (ktpa) to 100 ktpa in the case of small-scale plants and 200 ktpa upwards for mid-scale plants.
Each of the plants will utilise Italian technology, based on an energy-optimised cryogenic nitrogen cycle through the use of two machines (expanders/compressors). The plants will allow methane to be transformed from a gas to a liquid state and represent an ideal solution to enable energy transition on global markets thanks to their price competitiveness.
“With this agreement, Snam is entering the liquefaction infrastructure sector, which will be key to enable sustainable mobility by road, rail and potentially sea, as well as decarbonising other energy uses,” Alverá said at the signing.
“LNG, especially in its ‘bio’ version, makes it possible to reduce both polluting and CO2 emissions, making a decisive contribution to air quality and the fight against climate change, and to boosting the circular economy, optimising the management of the waste cycle and agricultural and food waste. Thanks to this collaboration with SIAD, we will make an innovative energy transition solution available to both Italy and other countries.”
Roberto Sestini, Chair of SIAD, added, “This important agreement reached with Snam for the development of methane and biomethane liquefaction plants was also made possible thanks to the expertise and technical experience of the SIAD Group.”
“More than 500 plants have been built and installed in different parts of the world for the production of oxygen, nitrogen and argon, which all require the liquefaction of air. Based on this technological knowledge, it has been possible to design different sizes of methane liquefaction plants with efficient energy consumption and cost savings.”
