The Government of Morocco intends to increase the country’s energy security by reducing its dependence on imports and diversifying its sources of natural gas imports. The Moroccan Ministry of the Energy Transisiton and Sustainable Development has contracted the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to assist in the design and tender of an LNG import and regasification terminal and related downstream infrastructure. This includes a sustainable LNG import terminal in the port of Nador West Med, a gas pipeline to connect the terminal to the Maghreb – Europe Gas Pipeline (GME) to the south (140km), and a gas pipeline to connect the industrial zone in Mohammedia to the GME to the west (220km). In May 2024, IFC retained Rogan Associates to provide engineering services related to the infrastructure design and feasibility studies for the LNG import terminal and pipeline project. Rogan Associates retained K&M Advisors LLC to review and comment on the feasibility study and related reports for the project.

In this assignment, K&M is tasked with several key responsibilities. Firstly, K&M will review and provide feedback on various critical documents, including the inception report, draft final report, final report, and the technical inputs to the bidding documents. Additionally, K&M will participate in calls with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as requested by the Client, ensuring consistent communication and alignment on project objectives and deliverables.

Guam Power Authority (GPA) procured a 198 MW Ukudu combined cycle power plant on an IPP basis. The plant is expected to enter commercial operation in third quarter of 2025 and will initially operate on Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel. GPA intends to develop an LNG terminal to convert the Ukudu plant to operate on natural gas. K&M was retained as a lead consultant to assist GPA in conducting LNG terminal technical and commercial feasibility analysis, and, if proven feasible, to assist in procurement of the LNG terminal and negotiating as gas supply agreement.

Currently, K&M works on the Phase 1 of the project, which includes such tasks as estimating the LNG demand, analyzing source and delivery options, selecting the preferred site and configuration for the LNG terminal and developing terminal conceptual design and cost estimate. The scope of work also includes analysis of the possible business models, financial analysis, determining project feasibility and developing recommendations on whether to proceed with procurement of the LNG terminal. If GPA decides to proceed, K&M will assist GPA in procurement of the LNG terminal and LNG, negotiating a gas supply agreement, and overseeing work during the LNG terminal implementation.

In accordance with the provisions of Article 15.1 of the BirAllah Exploration and Production Contract between bp and the Ministry of Petroleum, Mines and Energy of Mauritania (MPME), a collaborative examination must be carried out by the MPME and bp. The purpose of this examination is to evaluate the local natural gas (gas) outlets and the associated infrastructure for Mauritania’s possible domestic gas market.

The MPME made a formal request for phase 1 considerations of the BirAllah gas development project (the “BirAllah Project”), specifically for a supply of 105 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) intended for the local market. A segment of this gas is planned to be transported to a 500 MW power plant, which is slated for construction in the Ndiago region, the same area where the onshore facilities of the BirAllah Project are proposed to be established.

K&M Advisors (“K&M”) was engaged by bp to conduct the evaluation subsequently referred to as the Joint Gas Market Study for the BirAllah Project (the “Study”). This evaluation will utilize the Mauritanian Gas Master Plan (the “Gas Master Plan”), previously conducted by EPCM, as part of the foundational framework. The primary objective of the Study is to reevaluate the local and international gas outlets in alignment with the resources made available by the BirAllah and GTA projects, before outlining a roadmap and assessing the impact of the BirAllah Project implementation.

The primary objectives of this work are to (i) provide an assessment of the feasibility and volumes of BirAllah gas that could be supplied to domestic power generation and mining demand as potential outlets, (ii) to present an assessment of other potential outlets to determine feasibility and their suitability to be supplied by BirAllah gas or otherwise, and (iii) to provide an initial overview of aspects of the global LNG market relevant for the potential to export BirAllah gas internationally. As part of the scope, K&M reviewed the following potential outlets:

• Power Sector:
  • Use Gas Master Plan and other sources to understand expected role of 500MW power plant
  • Analyze historic electricity demand and supply balance, types and costs of existing generation plants, and demand and supply forecast for the next 20 years—using data provided by the client, including size and timing of gas-fired capacity additions that are economically justified
  • Use inputs from analysis to determine dispatch and volumes (quantity) of gas needed for 500 MW power plant
  • Determine the major facilities necessary to supply gas to new gas-fired power plants for these sales, including pipelines, transmission lines, etc. This will include a high level analysis of interconnection options and cost estimates (CAPEX) for major components.
  • Estimate cost of delivered gas to the end users broken down by component (as feasible), and levelized cost of electricity. Client to provide cost of delivered and treated gas onshore (in $/MMBtu), to be treated as a key input.
  • Develop high level implementation schedule
• Gas to Mining:
  • Determine the potential demand from existing mining operations (including for power generation and substituting diesel for LNG as fuel for mining hauling trucks).
  • Identify location, fuel consumption, type of fuel used, and type of fuel-consuming equipment for a select group of the largest mines in the country—using data provided by the client
  • Identify the least-cost logistics solution to deliver gas/LNG to each mine and estimate the cost of converting to gas existing equipment and gas demand after conversion
  • Compare the cost of delivered gas to the cost of existing fuel and aggregate gas demand for those mines with a cost of gas below the cost of existing fuel.
  • Develop high level implementation schedule
• Gas for Transport:
  • Estimate existing fuel demand for different types of marine and road transport (trucks, buses, cars, etc.)—using data to be supplied by the client
  • Using CNG penetration rates in other emerging markets with indigenous gas resources, estimate the gas demand required to supply a potential CNG market in Mauritania
  • Using CNG distribution costs and the cost of converting vehicles to CNG, estimate the total cost of ownership of CNG -operated vehicles and compare to the cost with existing fuels
  • Develop high level implementation schedule
• LPG and Condensate:
  • Estimate existing LPG and condensate demand (location, volumes, types of uses)—using data provided by the client
  • Identify other fuels/products that could be displaced if LPG or condensate were more widely available in Mauritania
  • Perform high-level assessment of the infrastructure required to produce and distribute LPG and condensates
  • Estimate the delivered cost of these two products and determine if they are competitive with existing LPG and Condensate prices in Mauritania and of the displaced fuels
  • Develop high level implementation schedule

The study must consider, among the Mauritanian gas master plan outlets, those that are feasible with regard to the Bir Allah project (Gas to industries, Phosphate fertilizer, etc)

Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC) has expressed its intention to procure gas supply for its power plants competitively. The procurement process will involve several key activities. To begin with, there will be a prequalification process where interested parties will be assessed for eligibility. K&M, in its role as an assisting entity, will support CUC in this process. Their responsibilities include drafting the Request for Qualifications (RFQ), developing project advertisements, launching the prequalification process, and assisting CUC in evaluating the responses received.

As part of the RFQ, K&M will conduct a gas demand analysis to provide an understanding of CUC’s expected gas demand, which will provide valuable context to the bidders. Furthermore, K&M will design the bid process and establish the technical and financial evaluation criteria based on the project structure and chosen contracting modality for gas supply.

K&M will also play a crucial role in preparing the Request for Proposal (RFP) document and the term sheet for project agreements, ensuring a solution-neutral tender process. At CUC’s direction, K&M will distribute the RFP documents to the prequalified bidders and manage any clarifications or inquiries from the bidders. K&M will be responsible for drafting responses to these inquiries and coordinating the receipt and control of all proposals.

Following the opening of the proposals, K&M, in collaboration with CUC, will evaluate them on a pass-fail basis. Technical and responsiveness evaluations will be conducted, and K&M will prepare a recommendation to CUC based on the evaluation results. The recommendation will include the necessary analysis, examples of submittals, and supporting documentation regarding the responsiveness test.

Once the highest-ranked bidder has been selected, K&M will provide assistance in the negotiation and finalization of the Gas Supply Agreement (GSA) term sheet. Furthermore, they will collaborate with international legal counsel to draft the complete version of the GSA.

Throughout the entire procurement process, K&M will actively support CUC, leveraging its expertise in managing the various stages, from prequalification to proposal evaluation and negotiation, to ensure an efficient and competitive gas supply procurement for Caribbean Utilities Company.

K&M was contracted by Guinéenne d’Energie (GDE) to perform a pre-feasibility study for a new gas-fired power plant project in Conakry. The objective of this assignment is to identify the size and timing of gas-fired capacity additions that are economically justified in the Guinean grid, estimate the economically justified electricity generation using natural gas and resulting gas demand, assess the viable generation options for a new gas-fired power plant in Conakry, and develop an implementation plan for progressing the project from its current conceptual stage to a commissioning stage.

K&M’s scope of work included:

K&M has commenced this pre-feasibility study by collecting data on the current state of the power system in Guinea and developing a simplified model to estimate thermal capacity requirements to meet annual peak and reserve requirements. From this work, K&M has identified the size and timing of gas-fired capacity additions that are economically justified in the Guinean grid. K&M also developed a simplified merit-order dispatch model to estimate the dispatch of a new gas-fired power plant and calculate the resulting gas demand. Later, the team assessed viable interconnection arrangements between the power plant and transmission system substation, evaluated site conditions, and identified viable technologies and configurations. K&M also calculated and compared the marginal costs and the Levelized cost of electricity for each generation technology option. Lastly, the team assisted the project by developing an implementation plan to help progress the project from the current conceptual stage to the commissioning stage.

The Government of Kenya intended to create a domestic natural gas market for power generation and industrial use with the aim of diversifying the country’s energy mix, improving energy security, reducing the cost of electricity, and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The primary objective of the project was to conduct a feasibility study for the development and operation of infrastructure for the importation of liquefied natural gas, the conversion of existing HFO (MSD) Power Plants, and the development of a natural gas power generation plant.

KenGen contracted K&M to analyze the technical, financial, economic, environmental and social feasibility of the development and operation of infrastructure for importation of liquefied natural gas, conversion of the existing HFO (MSD) Power Plants and development of a natural gas power generation plant to determine what, if any, options would be optimal for natural gas power generation in Kenya. As part of the study, K&M will complete the following tasks:

• Evaluate indicative LNG demand and where the demand is located
• Identify the least-cost LNG import and logistics solution to meet the demand
• Develop a business case for LNG at the cost estimated
• Evaluate LNG supply & infrastructure procurement strategy
• Develop preferred procurement option and conduct financial, economic and value for money analysis
• Conduct technical assessment of feasibility to convert 10 existing power plants from HFO/diesel to LNG
• Develop conceptual design and cost estimates for plants to be converted
• Carry out financial viability analysis for plants to be converted
• Prepare implementation schedule and risk assessment for plants to be converted
• Conduct technical assessment of a greenfield gas power plant
• Develop conceptual design and cost estimates for greenfield gas power plant
• Assess preliminary environmental and social impact of greenfield gas power plant
• Carry out financial viability analysis for greenfield gas power plant
• Prepare implementation schedule and risk assessment for the greenfield gas power plant

Vivo Energy is considering developing an LNG import terminal in Kamsar or Conakry to supply LNG by road to mines or other energy-intensive industries in Guinea (the “Project”). Using LNG rather than diesel or Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) could reduce energy costs to these mines and industries. As an initial step, Vivo, working alongside the International Finance Corporation (IFC), will perform a preliminary analysis of the feasibility of the Project.

K&M was responsible for:

• Estimating required LNG trucks, ISO containers, customer-site storage, and customer-site regas and control systems
• Estimating logistics costs for in-country deliveries
• Analyzing the competitiveness of LNG available versus liquid fuels currently used by potential customers
• Supporting the analysis of a PV solar option including analysis of LNG-Solar hybrid solution vs LNG, fuel-switching economics, and LNG storage sizing
• Preliminary assessment of bankability for project or corporate financing.

K&M were hired by the IFC to support the creation of LNG projects pipeline, an LNG-to-power pricing framework and to analyze the competitiveness of LNG-to-power versus indigenous and imported coal, gas-fired plants that use indigenous gas as fuel and other sources of power (such as renewables) in Vietnam. The study will assess the optimal transposition of international LNG pricing into appropriate and competitive local power prices. The study will support individual LNG-to-power projects as well as the Government of Vietnam’s engagement with those projects.

K&M was hired to advise on the submission of a bid to build, own, and operate 1-2 large LNG terminals and a gas-fired combined cycle power plant in the Dominican Republic. K&M supported the planning and implementation of a comprehensive prequalification, reviewed the Request for Qualifications of Prequal documentation provided by the procuring entity identifying submission and qualification requirements and evaluating qualification criteria and methodology, and established a plan to collate all documentation, produce submission documentation, and successfully qualify for the proposal stage for both lots. K&M also submitted a Request for Information (RFI) and submission checklist, and drafted all documentation required.

K&M was contracted to assist a private client on the negotiation of the Regasified LNG Sale and Purchase Agreement (RLSPA). A draft version of the RLSPA was submitted to the client on March 31, 2021. In addition to the RLSPA, the LNG supplier proposed that the client and themselves enter into a Pipeline Interconnection Agreement (PIA) that will govern the construction of the pipeline from the LNG terminal to WEB’s battery limit. K&M will review and comment on the RLSPA and PIA.