“We want to extend the Aguada Pichana project and electrify all of Vaca Muerta”
In an interview with +e, Gerardo Manhard, COO of Dreicon, talks about the plans to reduce the carbon footprint of the oil sector.
In addition to the quality of its resource, Vaca Muerta has the advantage of having a unique potential for reducing its carbon footprint, which gives it great global competitiveness in environmental terms. In an era where there are already international markets that open or close depending on these factors and external financing with lower rates as progress is made in this regard, energy transition projects are beginning to take off in the Neuquén unconventional formation.
In dialogue with +e, Gerardo Manhard, COO of Dreicon, explains the company’s plans to lead the energy transition and bring the carbon footprint of the Argentine oil sector to zero.
What is Dreicon and what does it do?
It is a firm that develops energy transition projects. We cover all stages of the project. From the beginning, execution, start-up, operation and maintenance. Today there is a need to transition from fossil fuels to a clean matrix. Argentina has those clean fuels that the world needs. From wind and solar energy to green, blue or pink hydrogen.
In this transition that could take several decades, what are the first projects you plan to develop?
There is a transition within the energy transition. We have our own hydrogen projects, but they will take time. In the short term, there are more concrete things such as the development of so-called green gases from biogas or biomethane. Argentina has the potential for biogas to replace between 15 and 20% of the total gas consumed. And then convert that gas into biomethane and inject it into the grid. We have several projects there. We started out as partners in one of the most efficient biogas plants in Argentina. We are the only company that covers the entire spectrum from pre-feasibility to start-up, and that allowed us to go out today to upgrade biogas to biomethane for one of the largest companies in the country, which has already sold this green gas in the order of 100 MW equivalent.
Despite Argentina’s potential, crises often make it difficult or delay the start-up of some activities. Do you think this is a good time for the development of energy transition projects?
Absolutely. We have another package of projects that, for example, are closely linked to the Omnibus Law and to what the Secretary of Energy has been preaching. Today the efficiency of energy consumption is in the order of 50%. As Argentina is going to have very cheap gas and it is the cleanest, industries are asking us to analyze a completely gas-based supply, where this gas generates electricity and with the same equipment generates heat and cold. These teams exist in the world, they are generation, cogeneration and trigeneration teams in the same team and with a performance of 90%. That is, they have a gain of 45 percentage points.
Another of your big bets is the electrification of the drilling equipment in Oil & Gas. What news do you have?
Yes, our project portfolio is divided into two parts. A path of development of renewable energy projects and the indirect electrification of industries. Within this second group, the largest project is Aguada Pichana. There we are developing all the engineering so that the supply is entirely electric by interconnection to the grid. The first phase of the new line is already under construction, which will imply that 50 MW of consumption will be completely electric. That is equivalent to the consumption of 5 or 6 Villa La Angostura.
What savings does it imply with respect to the use of diesel?
This field consumes the equivalent of about 14 trucks per day of diesel. Each truck carries 25 thousand liters. But at the same time there is a notable improvement in performance, which was 15% with compressors and from a Combined Cycle plant it goes up to 60%. Another great advantage is that, once the field is electrified, it will buy renewable energy and it will be zero carbon. We want to export this model to all of Vaca Muerta. We are in dialogue with the province to do a new planning study. We want to be a strategic ally of the oil companies so that they can extract their gas and oil and monetize it. So that they do not have to use it to feed their equipment. What we do is help them to make this supply as clean as possible and in the world that has a reward in terms of interest rates, image, participation of new investors. They lend you faster and at a lower rate if you have a smaller carbon footprint. Now, if we achieve a massive electrical interconnection we would already reduce the footprint a lot. But if we also go out to look for a Mater contract for renewable energy, that footprint drops to zero.
How are you seeing the direction of the Government’s reforms?
It is the direction that the world has already taken, the path is absolutely correct. Cammesa, by ensuring a price and buying renewable energy for 20 years, actually helped a transition within the transition through different contracts. When there were no competitive prices and market development, Cammesa came along and allowed it. That past was very important and it must be valued. But now that development has to be completely in the hands of the private sector and that is already happening with the growth of Mater, which is already growing much more than the Cammesa contracts. We are in a historic opportunity. What was done in the past is valid, but to the extent that we return to more market-based dynamics.
What do you think of the carbon trading market that Secretary Chirillo wants to promote?
In our case, for example, we are working on a green gas project that already has a buyer for that gas through a bond. There are leading companies in the country today that already need to buy biomethane, which is that green gas. And, even if the project does not have green bonds, it is already closed. There are companies interested in paying more for a gas in order to base their production on a more sustainable matrix. So just with that it already generates its own market for renewable projects. It is also true that, if a stock exchange appears to market these green bonds at a national level, it is an important tool.
When are we going to start to see all these projects become reality?
At the end of the year, the first biomethane project with our feasibility will be ready, which will be the first in the entire country. That market has a purchase potential of 400 thousand m3 of biomethane. There are already interested parties for that volume that represents 100 MW of electric energy and, to get to that, we would need 10 projects like the one we are doing. If we add to this a national policy in favour of biomethane that has not yet had, for example, an increasing obligation for biomethane to represent 5% of total gas, these projects explode.
Original article: https://mase.lmneuquen.com/vaca-muerta/queremos-extender-el-proyecto-aguada-pichana-y-electrificar-todo-vaca-muerta-n1099318
