LNG cargo containment system designer GTT is expanding its research and development work into the storage and transportation of hydrogen and ammonia while continuing to compete in the LNG-fuelling market.
Speaking on a third quarter results call GTT chief financial officer Marc Haestier said: “We are looking at hydrogen, we are looking at ammonia and potentially other solutions if anything else emerges. We are not limiting our efforts to one kind of gas.”
This month GTT acquired Areva H2Gen, a company specialising in electrolysis, the production of electrolysers and green hydrogen.
Haestier said the buy confirms GTT’s commitment to energy and the environmental transition and fits with its development strategy.
GTT also bought artificial intelligence company OSE Engineering during the quarter.
Haestier said as of today LNG seems to be the only alternative fuel that meets most environmental regulations.
He said the question is not if the market for LNG as a fuel will grow, it is more when, detailing how the pandemic has delayed newbuilding orders globally.
“We remain quite convinced that this market will take off in the near future," he said.
Haestier was also questioned about a Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) hearing held on 21 October into GTT’s commercial practices with South Korean shipyards. This follow KFTC’s release of a confidential “Examiner Report” based on four years of investigations.
The CFO said GTT participated in this hearing and has responded in writing on the report. He said KFTC’s decision following the hearing is “pending” and the timing of its release is in the commission’s hands.
GTT reported a 53% jump in revenues to EUR 305.6m ($351.2) from EUR 199.7m in the comparable period.
The bulk of this was made up from royalties for using the company’s membrane type designs in newbuildings.
Haestier said revenue royalties rose 56% year-on-year to record levels on the back of the high number of LNG newbuildings ordered in the 2018 to 2019 period.
The company is forecasting 2020 full-year revenue in a range of between EUR 375m and EUR 405m.
GTT detailed that it had received 10 new orders in the third quarter – six for LNG carriers and four for VLECs.
Added to those received earlier, in the first nine months of the year the company logged 38 new orders comprising 24 LNG carriers, eight VLECs, three onshore storage tanks, two floating storage units and one floating storage and regasification unit.
The company did not receive any orders for LNG-fuelled ships during the quarter but is engaged with 17 under-construction vessels.
Haestier said figures show there will be a need for an additional 240 million tonnes per annum of LNG by 2035.
But he said the global pandemic has postponed the supply-demand picture with the market now looking set to remain in balance until around 2027.
He highlighted that there have been no new liquefaction projects sanctioned to date this year.
