Brazil’s White Martins targets LNG expansion and green fuel opportunities

White Martins sees good prospects for the liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG) and hydrogen markets in Brazil. 

The Linde Group company is considering expanding its LNG plant in Paulínia, São Paulo, and installing new CNG bases across the country. 

Meanwhile, it is analyzing green hydrogen and biogas/biomethane business opportunities.  

BNamericas talks to to Gilney Bastos, president of White Martins and Linde Latin America South, about the plans.

BNamericas: How do you assess the gas market in Brazil?

Bastos: We have a liquefaction plant in Paulínia that is almost full, with high consumption. In 2021, we bought Petrobras' share of the plant.

BNamericas: Through the Gemini consortium, which White Martins operated with Petrobras, right?

Bastos: Yes. The company that sells the fuel is [Linde’s] GásLocal. Today, it’s 100% focused on industry, replacing diesel oil, coal ... these fuels that are completely outdated and go against decarbonization. 

We intend to expand the plant. We see the market opening up.

BNamericas: What is the unit's production capacity?

Bastos: It’s 13.2 million cubic meters per month, equivalent to 440,000m3/d. It's a strategic plant for White Martins, serving six states. 

We see other companies entering the LNG segment. And why LNG? Because we need to allow industries that are not served by gas pipelines to work with cleaner fuel. These initiatives are suitable for a 400km, 500km radius of action. 

We see Brazil growing along these lines today. It will depend on demand, on the country's appetite. We're going through a transition and see high interest rates, which have started to fall but have inhibited some initiatives. But if the country gets back on track and works seriously on its targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, we'll contribute together.

BNamericas: Could the prospect of a reduction in Bolivian gas supplies open up opportunities for domestic gas?

Bastos: The market will increasingly move in this direction, or we'll go backwards and burn coal and fuel oil. We're not only looking at LNG but also CNG. We have two stations, one in Belo Horizonte [Minas Gerais] and another in Curitiba [Paraná]. 

And we're working on some biogas and biomass initiatives, mainly through the cultivation of sugarcane. We haven't worked much with initiatives involving [urban] waste, but we intend to investigate possibilities with animal waste. 

The idea is to turn biomass into biogas and biomethane, bottle it and sell it to industry or gas stations, complementing the LNG chain. And, depending on the quantity, we could generate small-scale LNG in partnership with Galileo Technologies in Argentina. Or, if it's even larger, we could use our own technology to build a new LNG plant.

BNamericas: Are you considering installing new CNG bases in Brazil?

Bastos: Yes. 

BNamericas: What are your plans in the area of green hydrogen?

Bastos: We’re producing green hydrogen on an industrial scale in Pernambuco, for the food industry. It's a 1.5MW pilot project. It's like a showroom: we're showing customers that we can develop a green product [green hydrogen or nitrogen]. We have the electrolyzer technology, the green energy and the investment capacity.

BNamericas: Where does the energy for the project in Pernambuco come from?

Bastos: We have 230MW of clean energy, 130MW of which is wind power from Ômega Energia and 100MW is solar power from Eneva. The certifier is Germany’s TÜV Rheinland. 

BNamericas: White Martins has signed MOUs for the development of green hydrogen projects with Brazilian ports. 

Bastos: With the ports of Açu [Rio de Janeiro] and Pecém [Ceará] and with the governments of Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul. These agreements are focused on producing hydrogen, ammonia or methanol for export, especially to Europe. So these ports need a kind of pool, with a company that generates energy, one that operates the electrolyzer, one that generates nitrogen to make ammonia, etc. 

In Pecém, we have a 2,300t/d oxygen and nitrogen plant. It's the largest air gases plant in South America. And it's there because of the Pecém steel mill.

BNamericas: And could this steel mill be turned into a green steel mill?

Bastos: Yes, there's energy for that. 

BNamericas: The Port of Açu wants to attract companies to produce fertilizers. 

Bastos: Açu is targeting fertilizers for the domestic market and ammonia for export. 

Meanwhile, in Rio Grande do Sul, governor [Eduardo Leite] is enthusiastic and has made many efforts; there are many opportunities for wind and solar power in the state. And they have a port [Rio Grande] that is very well prepared to do a lot of exporting.