DDL finds competitive edge in LNG
At Wednesday’s launch of the pilot LNG  project. Seated from left are: CEO of Go-Invest, Owen Verwey; CEO of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Mahender Sharma; Chairman of ICON LNG, Stephen Scoon; Chairman of Demerara Distillers Limited, Komal Samaroo; President and Chief Financial Officer of ICON LNG, John Thompson; Chief Technical Officer of ICON LNG, Hugo Armella; and Vice-President of Commercial Development at ICON LNG, Nelson Garcez
At Wednesday’s launch of the pilot LNG project. Seated from left are: CEO of Go-Invest, Owen Verwey; CEO of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Mahender Sharma; Chairman of ICON LNG, Stephen Scoon; Chairman of Demerara Distillers Limited, Komal Samaroo; President and Chief Financial Officer of ICON LNG, John Thompson; Chief Technical Officer of ICON LNG, Hugo Armella; and Vice-President of Commercial Development at ICON LNG, Nelson Garcez

–reputedly a safer fossil fuel with cleaner carbon footprint

By Lisa Hamilton

DEMERARA Distillers Limited (DDL) is currently taking the lead in the use of clean energy with company chairman Komal Samaroo declaring: “DDL believes in the future of natural gas.”

President and Chief Financial Officer of ICON LNG, John Thompson, addressing the gathering about the benefits of natural gas (Photos by Delano Williams)

This was announced Wednesday at the launch of its pilot programme in collaboration with Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) distribution company, ICON LNG Holdings Limited.
The event was held at the Cara Lodge on Quamina Street, with the Trinidad company reporting on the success of their pilot project’s preparatory activities in Guyana over the past two-and-a-half years.

DDL Chairman, Mr Komal Samaroo said that for the past three decades, his company has been challenged with finding new ways to remain competitive in a world that is constantly changing.

“In responding to this challenge,” he said: “We have spent a lot of time thinking and strategising: how do we find the competitive advantages that allow us, a small company operating in a Third World country, to stand up against giants of the world?
“And so, when the ICON group approached us, their project resonated with us very readily, because, in our industry power is the second highest cost.”

ICON LNG’s strategy is to distribute natural gas in its liquid form to companies, while at the same time providing the technology which allows the natural gas to be used with the customer’s existing equipment.
As such, a portion of DDL’s facilities has now been transformed to operate simultaneously on diesel and natural gas, a system termed ‘dual-fuel.’

This is in addition to its bio-methane plant, which originated from an investment project which today enables the waste from their distillery to be converted into methane gas, thereby helping to generate power.
Samaroo said that despite the many challenges both companies face, they will continue to work together on their collaborative six-month project which began two months ago.
He is optimistic about the upcoming assessment of his company’s performance thus far, which ICON LNG will use as a pattern to be shared with potential shareholders.

“I think at this point in time, we can say that the technical feasibility has been proven. The operation has been going very well, after the initial hurdles have been overcome,” Samaroo said, adding:
“We believe as we go forward in the next few months, we’ll be in a position to sit down and do the economic and the financial evaluation.”

President and Chief Financial Officer of ICON LNG, Mr John Thompson, said that though non-renewable, natural gas plays a key role in evening out a country’s fuel expenses over time, acting as a back-up fuel to diesel.
The company promotes LNG as a safer and cleaner fuel compared to other fossil fuels such as propane, gasoline or diesel, since it emits 30%-40% less CO2 into the atmosphere, thus leaving a cleaner carbon footprint.

This, they believe, will help in the transition of Guyana towards its goal of 100% renewable energy use by 2025.
Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Mr Hugo Armella explained that there was little risk involved in using natural gas in terms of leakage.

“Small spillages are almost unperceivable; it vents into the air, which makes it an easier hazard to address,” Armella said, adding:
“If there is a major spillage, then the facilities would have a containment infrastructure to keep the spillage within the containment and let the LNG vent into the air; it would vaporise and disappear, unlike the other liquid fuels.”

The collaboration between the two companies was lauded by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Mr Mahender Sharma, who offered congratulations for the demonstration of innovation and entrepreneurship in pursuing the pilot project.
“It certainly does not speak contrary to the direction that the country is heading in,” Sharma said.

“Natural gas in the LNG form presents an opportunity to displace dirtier fossil fuel, in this case diesel…
“I look forward to seeing this technology being embraced in the private sector.”
Meanwhile, CEO of Go-Invest, Mr Owen Verwey, said that he believes LNG is the way forward for Guyana.

“Today we have an example of one of the largest companies in Guyana partnering with a smaller company. It shows the potential of everyone, large and small. Every sector, beverages and energy, it shows you that inter-linkage that is required to move to the next linkage.”

Present at the event were representatives from companies such as NAMILCO, Beharry, and Guyana Power and Light (GPL), the latter with which the GEA says it has held discussions about the role of natural gas in the power sector.

ICON LNG projects a start-up of Phase I in 2018, when they will begin the process of paving the way for Guyana’s own natural gas.

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