Osaka Gas-Sojitz joint venture company to provide natural gas at Vietnam food plants

KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 -- Sojitz Osaka Gas Energy Company Ltd (SOGEC) has concluded a supply agreement with Acecook Vietnam Joint Stock Company (ACV) to provide natural gas to ACV’s food plants.

SOGEC is a joint venture company between Sojitz Corporation (Sojitz) and Osaka Gas Co Ltd (Osaka Gas) while ACV is a subsidiary of Acecook Co Ltd.

According to a statement, SOGEC is concentrating its efforts on fuel switching from coal to natural gas, and this project marks the company’s first time supplying natural gas to an individual business.

This natural gas supply business will be a subsidised project under Japan’s Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) scheme. Additionally, this project will be undertaken in cooperation with the governments of Vietnam and Japan.

In partnership with Osaka and Ho Chi Minh City, ACV and SOGEC participated in a feasibility study for reducing CO2 in food plants prior to replacing the coal-fired steam boilers at two of ACV’s plants with highly-efficient gas-fired steam boilers that use natural gas, to improve the plants’ work environment and reduce CO2 emissions.

This business expects to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 76,300t over a 10-year period.

Under the JCM scheme, over half of this reduced CO2 amount will be issued as JCM carbon credits and delivered to the Japanese government, which will help Japan to realise its reduction targets for CO2 emissions.

Sojitz, Daigas Group (an Osaka Gas group brand), and SOGEC will continue to respond to the diverse business needs of its customers via the sale of environmentally-friendly natural gas, contributing to Vietnam’s sustainable development and to the realisation of a low-carbon society.

-- BERNAMA