MGA successfully organised the 5th edition of #MGAIndustryTalk on 29th October 2021 titled “Conversation on Gas & Renewables: Partners in Crisis”. The one-hour insightful conversation delved into discussions on the role of natural gas as the perfect partner to support the growth of renewables, especially during the ongoing energy crisis. Attended by more than 150 participants, MGA’s Industry Talk moderated by Rosman Hamzah, Secretary General of MGA featured three distinguished speakers, namely Paddy Blewer, Director of Public Affairs, International Gas Union (IGU), Marko Lackovic, Partner, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Azferina Anuar, Head of Strategy, Gas + New Energy, PETRONAS.

The Webinar began with a context setting by Rosman Hamzah followed by the moderated panel discussion. In his context setting presentation, Rosman highlighted that with cost of electricity from renewables becoming competitive, many quarters are calling for an end to fossil fuel in power generation. Even natural gas, the cleanest burning fuel, is also not spared, especially when International Energy Agency (IEA) stated that the world no longer needs new investment in natural gas fields in order to meet Net Zero Emission (NZE) by 2050.

He then presented a reality check from the current energy crisis with an example from the UK where wind at 24GW comprised approximately 25% of the generation capacity. Since July 2021, UK had to increase its reliance on gas-fired power plant to supply power whereas wind only managed to contribute a few GW each day due to the “wind drought”.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM PANEL DISCUSSION

• Marko concluded that the role of the power and the broader energy system is not only decarbonization goals because energy system is one of the main culprits of the carbon footprints. Energy sector creates a better socioeconomic stability by providing more job sectors and investors.
• Azferina shared that renewable is not as strong as internals like LNG, so it is important to focus on the markets, technologies, and understand the different to evaluate typical energy projects. LNG needs to keep running and maintain the assets because the funds from LNG will grow renewables energy.
• Gas inherent flexibility outside of pure power as it is clearly having significant advantages through CCGT said Paddy. He mentioned that the world need to see gas is not only power generation, but it is broader industrial diversification and value that is created through the natural gas value chain.
• Rosman added into the conclusions from panelists that the global demand of natural gas has been increasing lately and is reflected in the increasing price for liquefied natural gas (LNG). With strong demand growth, continued investment on natural gas production is necessary to ensure sustainable future supply at stable pricing.