NiQuan Energy’s Gas to Liquids plant, located at Pointe-à-Pierre, was declared open this week by Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Keith Rowley.
The plant has a nameplate capacity of 2,400 barrels per day and produces high performance, low emissions energy products; GTL Paraffinic Diesel and GTL Naphtha, from natural gas.
According to reports, NiQUAN GTL is the first commercial plant of its type in the western hemisphere.
“GTL represents clean energy – a bridge from a dirty energy past to a cleaner energy future. It’s a bridge that everyone wanted to build but, for many reasons, most of them have failed. With this plant, NiQuan Energy has built the first bridge and there will be more, many more,” said Ainsley Gill, Group CEO of NiQuan Energy. “And not just in Trinidad and Tobago and the Americas but around the world. Our clean energy products will make a difference. That’s the belief that’s driven us from day one. It’s what we promised to deliver, and we’ve kept our promise here today.”
The plant achieved a remarkable local content of over 90% and was financed using regional resources.
“Originally, we conceived of a project financed internationally, the reality is that it has been financed regionally which, we believe, is a first for a major energy infrastructure project in the Caribbean,” Gill said.
NiQUAN GTL is one of only five commercial GTL plants currently operating in the world built exclusively for the commercial production of GTL products and using the Low Temperature Fischer-Tropsch (LTFT) process.
The GTL Plant commenced operations in December 2020 and is currently ramping up to a nameplate capacity of 2,400 barrels of GTL Paraffinic Diesel and GTL Naphtha in an 80:20 split per day.
GTL products are characterized by high performance and low emissions when compared to their crude-derived equivalents and other energy sources. In addition, they are also biodegradable and have low toxicity, which confers further advantages over products made from crude oil.
