Pan-Asian Gas Pipeline Could Be an Efficient First AIIB Loan, Say Experts

As the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is gearing up to make its first loan for an infrastructure project in Asia, power industry experts are recommending the funding of a Pan-Asian Gas Pipeline, saying it would be extremely efficient and would benefit a number of Southeast Asian countries, Utility Products website reported. Although a number of such Pan-Asian Gas Pipeline proposals have emerged over the years, one that the experts consider the “smartest” connects Joint Development Areas in the South China Sea. The Asian Infrastructure Development Bank is expected to go into operation before the end of 2015, according to China’s Ministry of Finance.

In making his argument, one such expert, Stewart Taggart, says Asia is now the world’s largest economic bloc. A gas pipeline increases economic growth through expanded trade — a massive double win, Taggart says. Experts point out that in coming years, Asia will need trillions of dollars of new infrastructure investment, and half of that need will be for energy.

Taggart says the Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline proposed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which aims at bringing South China Sea natural gas to Chinese markets, cannot only carry natural gas initially, but at a later stage can also carry methane hydrates, bio-energy, and hydrogen over the long term. He also claims that pathways laid down by natural gas pipelines enable other infrastructure (such as fiber optic cables and High-Voltage Direct Current power lines) to be added later. Power lines, for instance, will enable offshore wind, wave energy and ocean thermal energy to be developed and delivered.