Gas compressor for ‘world’s largest offshore CCS project’ ordered from Japan

Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering (MMHE) has placed an order with a Japanese company for a gas compressor to be used for what the company says is the world’s largest offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.

The Tokyo-headquartered Kawasaki Heavy Industries revealed on 1 August that it had received an order to deliver a gas compressor for the Kasawari CCS project, the first CCS project offshore Malaysia.

“Building on a rich array of past successes with gas compressors, the company will continue working to earn additional orders for projects in Malaysia and other countries while developing and providing new technologies that enable environmentally friendly energy usage. In these ways, Kawasaki hopes to further disseminate hydrogen-based energy and contribute to the achievement of carbon neutrality,” Kawasaki stated.

Gas extracted from the Kasawari field will be separated into CO2-rich steam (permeate) and hydrocarbon gas. The hydrocarbon gas is sent to an onshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant while the permeate is routed to the offshore CCS platform for further CO2 separation and compression.

The CO2 will then be transported to a nearby depleted gas field for storage using submarine pipelines.

Malaysia’s energy giant Petronas took the final investment decision (FID) for the development of the Kasawari CCS project at the end of 2022, followed by the award of the EPCIC contract to MMHE.

Baker Hughes will supply CO2 compression equipment for the project, while Worley will provide detailed engineering design services. Petra Resources is in charge of the hook-up and commissioning works.

CCS platform operations are planned to begin by the end of 2025 and are expected to realize approximately 3.3 million tons of CO2 emission reductions annually.