South Korean LNG importing giant Kogas plans to invest 1 trillion won ($890 million) by 2025 in liquefied natural gas and hydrogen fueling projects.
KOGAS, the world’s second-largest corporate LNG buyer, said in a statement on Wednesday it plans to invest “heavily” in LNG bunkering infrastructure to expand the use of the chilled fuel for vessels as a response to a stricter global sulfur cap on bunkers, set to start in 2020.
Kogas said it would consult with the Korean government to expand the use of LNG as fuel and increase subsidies for eco-friendly vessels.
The company aims to build a new LNG bunkering facility in the southeastern region of the country in 2022 to deal with a growing number of LNG-fueled ships.
According to Kogas, domestic LNG bunkering demand is expected to rise from 310,000 tons in 2022 to 1.36 million tons in 2030 under stricter environmental regulations.
As part of the plans, Kogas will also promote LNG as fuel for trucks. Kogas will join forces with Daewoo Tata to develop a 400 horsepower LNG-powered truck, with a goal of beginning its commercialization in 2021.
The LNG importing giant also aims to expand the network of LNG filling stations in major ports and cargo terminals by 2020.
As part of hydrogen fueling plans, the company said it would establish about 100 hydrogen filling stations and distribution centers by 2022.
Kogas operates in total 72 LNG storage tanks in South Korea. It imports about 96 percent of Korea’s LNG demand via its four terminals, namely Incheon, Pyeongtaek, Tongyeong and Samcheok.
