May 18, 2022 | Books, Business
Northeast U.S. natural gas market decision-makers meet to gain insight, analyze, and structure arrangements to buy, sell and transport natural gas as a key element of energy transition.
HOUSTON – May 16, 2022 – PRLog — Several hundred energy industry professionals convene in June to gain insight and engage in analysis of up to the minute issues facing the Northeast regional natural gas market. The 27th Annual LDC Gas Forum Northeast takes place June 13 – 15 in Boston, MA. This is the premier gathering for natural gas industry professionals, which is much more than simply a conference with participants routinely negotiating transactions during the event.
This year’s event is scrambling to address a variety of critical issues that are converging on natural gas markets. Dominant topics include “Global Energy Geopolitics and Energy Security”, “Global LNG Demand and U.S. Exports”, “Energy Transition (to lower carbon energy sources)”, and “Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG)”. Significant portions of the agenda will be devoted to how market participants are rushing to design and implement innovative methods to offer lower carbon content energy alternatives, including Responsibly Sourced Gas (RSG), Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), Hydrogen (H2), Carbon Capture (CC), virtual pipelines, independent certification and digital of tracking of GHG content, etc.
Beyond these overarching themes, the Northeast U.S. region brings its own specific issues as it continues to be a natural gas market in transition. Dense population and post-Pandemic recovery brings strong demand. Satisfying that demand, particularly in the winter, continues to be a challenge. Ample supply is available nearby in the Marcellus/Utica shale. However, connecting that supply to northeast markets is increasingly difficult as resistance to new midstream infrastructure, has become extreme. While there is growing sentiment for an all-renewable energy environment, there are clear signs that mandates to achieve this goal are simply unachievable without significant continued contribution of natural gas to the energy mix. In the meantime, natural gas markets are responding quickly with a raft of creative solutions that offer lower carbon energy that is reliable, readily available, and economic.
These market conditions translate into potential for volatility and the need for informed decisions on structuring commercial arrangements into the future.
The content program of the LDC Gas Forum Northeast incorporates 2 ½ days of keynote presentations, and moderated panels. Keynote addresses include: Mark Aufmuth, Managing Director, Low Carbon & Cross Commodity Origination, bp; Kevin Little, SVP, Macquarie Energy; Toby Rice, President and Chief Executive Officer, EQT Corporation; David Braziel, President & CEO, RBN Energy; Speaker from the RNG Coalition.
The Program also includes nine moderated Panel discussions addressing a variety of timely topics, with well-qualified industry experts, including representatives from: FTI Consulting, ICIS, S&P Global, Cleveland Advisory, Argus Media, NatGasHub.com, Williams, Context Labs, Natural Gas Supply Association, INGAA, Southwestern Energy Company, Project Canary, Xpansiv, Quantum Fuel Systems, Chesapeake Utilities, Mobility-Utility Zero/low-carbon H2 Solutions, Cashman Preload Cryogenics, Enbridge Gas, Chart Industries, Enbridge, BHE GT&S, CB&I Storage Solutions, Gas South, New Energy Development, Ormat Technologies, Sapphire Gas Solutions, REV LNG, Vermont Gas, Procter & Gamble. Note – edits will be required as Agenda is finalized.
Even in today’s digital age, natural gas market participants appreciate an event that facilitates face-to-face interaction. The LDC Gas Forum is uniquely structured to meet this requirement and has been the venue of choice, for thousands of participants, for decades. Registration is still available at http://www.ldcgasforums.com/ne/
The LDC Gas Forums (4), Gulf Coast Energy Forum and US-Mexico Natural Gas Forum series consists of six annual events each focused on a key natural gas market region across North America. This is where buyers and sellers meet to do business. Much more than simply conferences, the Forums are a venue that delivers insights on critical issues affecting natural gas, LNG, RSG, RNG and emerging energy markets, but in addition provide participants opportunities to meet with industry counterparts to negotiate commercial business transactions. Timely panel discussions featuring key industry authorities focus on important questions facing buyers, sellers, transportation operators, service/product suppliers, and other market stakeholders in competitive energy markets. Topics addressed include: Energy Transition, ESG, Supply & Demand, Financial Outlook, Pipeline/Storage/LNG Infrastructure Projects, LNG Export Markets, Mexico Export Markets, Gas/Electric Coordination, Regulatory, Gas Buyer Insights, and Global Energy Geopolitics. Participants at the Forums include market leaders, decision makers and subject matter experts, representing all segments of the commercial value chain including utilities, industrial gas consumers, producers, pipelines, marketers, key service/product providers, as well as regulators and analysts. Several dedicated networking opportunities give you access to your clients, prospects, and peers to pursue opportunities in the market.
May 4, 2021 | Business
Data centre penetration in Japan is largely concentrated in two regions–Tokyo and Osaka.
However, post COVID-19, with the ubiquitous use of technology across the length and breadth of Japan, there is a growing clamour for data centres to be set up in other locations. Addressing delegates at Digital Week Northeast Asia on the topic of “Growth projections for Japan DC Hubs,” Takashi Kondo, Product & Sales Director, Asia, Colt Data Centre Services, pointed out that currently data centre hubs in Japan are concentrated in a 100 kilometre radius around Tokyo.
“There are many factors but the big ones are submarine landing stations, which are close to the Tokyo Bay area,” he said.
In Japan, there are more than 20 international submarine cable landing stations with cables connecting the United Station, Australia, Russia, Pan-Asia, Europe and Africa. Japan is well-connected with submarine cables, with even more projects on the way, including Southeast Asia-Japan Cable 2, JUPITER, Japan-Guam-Australia North, and Okinawa Cellular Cable.
In 2020, NEC Corporation, a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics company, announced a 9,400-kilometer ADC submarine cable that will connect China (Hong Kong and Guangdong province), Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It is also interesting to ntoe that Osaka has a long history, as the capital in olden times, and also as a gateway for international exchange. From the early-modern era, it prospered as a central area for business and finance and played a large role in the growth and development of Japan’s industrial economy.
“The demand has gone up since the onset of the pandemic and data centres have been driven by submarine cables as well as land availability around Tokyo and Osaka,” according to Hessam Seifi, Managing Director, DC PRO BV. In October 2020, AirTrunk announced a new 300 MW hyperscale data centre in Tokyo.
Challenges in DC penetration
Even as the demand is increasing in the interiors of Japan, companies are a bit hesitant when it comes to setting up data centres. “Land and power requirements are a challenge in smaller regional hubs,” noted Seifi. All that could change.
Edward Tay, CEO, Sistema Asia Capital is of the view that a lot depends on how much content services can be provided locally.
There is also a need to understand the local dynamics in Japan. “We are building a land bank and we work closely with the ecosystem as they are in the best position to provide local knowledge,” pointed out Kondo.
So, what are the trends playing out in the data centre segment in Japan? What is the marketshare of hyperscale versus colocation providers versus local organisations?
Seifi is of the view that the Japan data centre market is dominated by international cloud providers such as Amazon. In Asia Pacific, the trends are similar to other parts of the world.
“Increasing hyperscalers- American as well as Chinese cloud providers such as Alibaba, Huawei dominate the market,” said Daryl Dunbar, CEO of Dunbar Enterprises. Colocation service providers will keep growing, as enterprises are still moving to the cloud. “A lot of businesses have not yet adopted the cloud. In the next 5 years, growing demand in the colo segment,” stated Kondo.
Excluding China, Japan is Asia’s biggest data center market, with an estimated value of US$7 billion by 2025.
Sustainability push
The Japanese government has committed to the decarbonisation goals by committing to a greater usage of Renewable Energy (RE). Recently, Japan said that it aims to double its inter-regional power grid capacity by adding up to 23 GW to help speed expansion of renewable energy such as offshore wind farms. “Japan is strong in wind power and is also the second largest PV market after China,” said Tay.
Japan has substantial coastline and has enormous potential in offshore wind. The Japanese government has introduced legislation to strengthen the regulatory environment for offshore wind and is committed to work together with private sector to promote offshore wind power generation in both domestic and international markets.
Topic: Press release summary
