The Study on Fresh Water Transportation and Supply System to the State of Qatar

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "The Study on Fresh Water Transportation and Supply System to the State of Qatar"

Transcription

1 Reproduction forbidden Commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry The Study on Fresh Water Transportation and Supply System to the State of Qatar January 2010 Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Hitachi Plant Technologies, Ltd. Hitachi Research Institute

2 (1) Purpose and background of survey Japan imported 16,700,000-ton LNG a year from the Middle East in 2008, and annually transports approximately 13,500,000-ton ballast water (seawater) to the Middle East, which is drained. In February 2004, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships Ballast Water and Sediments to prevent an ecocide accompanying the movement of ballast water. This Convention specifies the removal or sterilization of aquatic organisms included in ballast water to a fixed lever or lower, and makes it obligatory to install a ballast water treatment system in a newly-built ship with ballast tank capacity of less than 5,000 ton from 2010, and in all ships in 2016 and after. Therefore, the cost of disposing of all ballast water every voyage will be increased. Currently, the crude oil tankers and LNG carriers which enter the Arabian Bay from Japan replace all ballast water mounted in the area of the sea around Japan with the seawater of the Indian Ocean on the way, as instructed by the IMO. The Hitachi group has a business model patent concerning the supply and demand matching of a system to mount the Fresh Water(Treated River Water) or the reclaimed water of advanced sewerage-disposed water in Japan as the ballast water of ships instead of seawater, and to export it. This export system does not discharge the ballast water into the sea, so it contributes to biodiversity conservation in the Middle East sea area, and it can also contribute to the countermeasure against water shortage in the Middle East by using the Japanese Fresh Water(Treated River Water) and reclaimed water. When this project was explained to Qatar in March 2007 to determine the degree of interest in Qatar, extremely high interest was shown because it would contribute to the countermeasure against water shortage. Also, when the Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy/Industry came to Japan, and the project was explained to the Senior Advisor of the Ministry of Energy/Industry and Qatar Petroleum Technical Advisor who accompanied the Deputy Premier, a high level of interest in this survey was reconfirmed. The purpose of this survey is to examine the economic efficiency of this system between Qatar and Japan. 1

3 (2) Details of Survey The following surveys were implemented as the specific details of survey: a) Amount of ballast water that LNG carriers bring into Qatar and the status of treatment - Field survey at the Port of Ras Laffan - Survey of Qatar Petroleum and Qatargas b) Amount of LNG imported into Japan, LNG receiving method, LNG receiving terminal, LNG carrier route, etc. - Survey of Japanese power companies c) Method of supplying fresh water(treated River Water) and reclaimed water to LNG carriers in Japan, facility plant/water quality/supply permit approval - Survey of sewage plants, shipbuilding companies d) Legal control/trend for ballast water in Qatar - Field survey and literature research, examination of compliance with environment/society consideration guidelines e) Method of receiving fresh water(treated River Water) and reclaimed water and receiving facilities in Qatar - Field survey at the Port of Ras Laffan f) Method of using water in Qatar - Field survey and literature research g) Survey and evaluation of business feasibility - Setting the price of water and evaluating the business feasibility based on the need in Qatar (3) Survey execution method, system schedule The above details of the survey were executed according to the JETRO s Guidelines for Environmental and Social Considerations, and the key points were reported to JETRO and entered in this report. The survey system is as shown on the next page. The survey was performed from August 2009 to January 2010 as shown on the next page. 2

4 - Survey Execution System Hitachi Plant Technologies, Ltd. Project Manager and responsible for business feasibility evaluation: Corporate Strategy Division, New Business Development Group: Manager Responsible for field survey in Qatar: Sales Integration Division, International Sales Department Deputy General Manager Responsible for business feasibility evaluation: Corporate Planning Room, Corporate Strategy Group Planner Responsible for negotiations with Qatar related sections: Corporate Strategy Division, International Sales Department, Europe & US Section: Manager Responsible for surveying domestic reclaimed water and Qatar field site: Corporate Strategy Division, International Sales Department, Europe & US Section: Section Manager 長 Responsible for purification technology and water quality evaluation: Environmental System Division, Environmental Engineering Department: Manager Responsible for water treatment technology: Corporate Strategy Division, Business Development Room Room Manager Responsible for energy evaluation/environment Corporate Strategy Division, New Business Development Group Chief Researcher Hitachi Research Institute Responsible for analyzing market: 3rd Research Department Manager Responsible for surveying water market: 3rd Research Department, Engineering Strategic Group Chief Researcher Responsible for researching Qatar legal system: 2nd Research Department, Industrial Group Sub chief researcher Responsible for surveying market trend: 1st research Department, International Group Researcher - Survey Schedule August September October November December 10/January Jobs in Japan 1. Advance preparation 2. Summarizing survey results 3. Submitting draft 4th (Fri) 4. Preparing report Field survey 1st 2nd 3rd 3

5 (4) Survey Results Since the purpose of this survey is to examine economic efficiency, it is necessary to specifically examine the detailed items of cost and materials hereafter. It was confirmed that the transport of fresh water to Qatar using ballast tank presents no problem in water quality, and is also relatively low in cost. This survey verifies the transport system by dividing the water supply for an LNG carrier into two types through a berth from shore-based facility, and using an exclusive unsalted water ship. It was revealed that the former case has an advantage in cost, and transporting unsalted water was slightly cheaper than Fresh Water(Treated River Water). For the financing of this project, it was confirmed that investment from Qatar or Japan would be possible, and in addition, various methods were available, including project financing method. (5) Using survey results and forecast It is expected that this survey will contribute to Qatar which is plagued by shortage of water, and also lead to a stable supply of energy to Japan. Currently, most water is supplied by the desalination plants in Qatar, and some fossil water is also supplied, but because there is a risk that fossil water will be depleted in future, securing water resources without generating marine contamination is urgently needed, and is essential for the local government organization and private corporations. When this project is executed, it will be highly evaluated by the government organization and government-run companies, and it is expected to be useful for promotion of smooth resource development of Japanese corporations. (6) Examination of environmental and social aspects When conducting this survey, we investigated the effects on Japan from the environmental and social aspects, according to the JETRO s Guidelines for Environmental and Social Considerations (2009) and Guidelines of Japan Bank for International Cooperation for Confirmation of Environmental and Social Considerations (July 2009). Since this project is to transport purified unsalted water to Qatar in place of previous ballast seawater, it was confirmed that any negative influence on environment accompanying implementation of the project would be small. 4