First LNG Delivery to South Africa

first LNG shipment arrives in South Africa — LNG tank was offloaded from an MSC containership on November 16 (DNG)

South Africa received its first shipment of liquified natural gas this week, making what is being promoted as a turning point in the efforts to bring the LNG industry to Africa. While the first shipment was just one tank delivered on a containership, DNG Energy Group believes it will be the beginning of the company’s operations, which it expects to have fully operational in the first quarter of 2022.

DNG Energy received the consignment of LNG from Rotterdam arriving at the Port of Ngqura on the southern Africa coast on November 16. The tank was transported aboard the MSC containership MSC Brittany and offloaded at the port where the company is preparing to launch its LNG operations. Ngqura is a new African container port launched in 2009 near Port Elizabeth, approximately halfway between Cape Town and Durban.

“The arrival of the LNG consignment is an inflection point for South Africa’s energy market, marking a key moment in our shift from coal-fired and oil-fired power generation to cleaner alternatives,” said Aldworth Mbalati, CEO of DNG Energy. “Over the next few years, LNG has the potential to drive significant growth and job creation, while helping South Africa meet its targets in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 30% to 40%.”

DNG founded in 2013 is a black-owned African business with a vision to build a pan-African LNG supply network. The company has been focusing on developing the infrastructure for LNG in South Africa, Mozambique, and Nigeria. Its initial focus is on the use of LNG for road and maritime transportation seeking to convert trucks and buses to LNG as a fuel as well as launching a bunkering operation for ships.

The company has commissioned South African Shipyards in Durban to build an 8,000-ton LNG barge that will be moored at the Coega terminal at the Port of Ngqura. According to DNG, this is the largest vessel by weight ever to be built on the African continent and will be completed by the end of 2021. The company plans to commission its first floating storage unit in the first quarter of 2022.

DNG Energy has received final authorization from the Transnet National Port Authority (TNPA) in October 2020 to begin liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering operations in the Port of Coega, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The license gives DNG Energy rights to have its terminal, the floating storage unit in Algoa Bay, which would make it the first in Africa. The company plans to offer off-shore as well as on-shore logistics with ship-to-ship transfers for international ships as well as LNG deliveries within the country.