Kazakhstan: The end of June saw signing an agreement to develop the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) between Condor Energies, a Canadian energy company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), a Kazakh national operator, and Wabtec, a US-based key market player in the local locomotive market. The contract continues KTZ’s move towards the use of gas fuel in the rail transport.
Condor Energies has agreed to establish production of 120,000 t of LNG per year, enough to power 125 locomotives on a regular basis, while Wabtec will build new diesel locomotives and convert existing ones to LNG.
The contract provides for the three parties to coordinate efforts, so that the amount of fuel supplied matches the consumption of the new and refurbished locomotives. A working group would set and monitor key efficiency targets.
According to Condor Energies’ presentation, its core projects are in Central Asia. The company is developing gas deposits in Uzbekistan and creating LNG production facilities in Kazakhstan, where it has also been awarded a license to develop a lithium deposit.
The Canadian company says that it has completed the front-end engineering for the first LNG facility with a capacity of 790,000 l per day, or 120,000 t per year, equivalent to 450,000 l of diesel fuel. The plant is expected to be built near Aktobe in about 12 to 16 months, with the first phase coming on stream in 2026.
LNG locomotives for Kazakhstan
The work to convert Kazakhstan’s locomotive fleet to LNG began several years ago. For example, research on TE33A(AC) freight locomotives is being carried out from the early 2020s.
TE33A(AC) freight diesel locomotives at the Locomotive Kurastyru Zauyt plant. Source: Locomotive Kurastyru Zauyt
These locomotives are built at Wabtec’s Lokomotiv Kurastyru Zauyty (LKZ) plant in Astana, with an annual production capacity of up to 120 vehicles. The US company and KTZ signed a memorandum of understanding in September 2022 for the conversion of locomotives, followed a year later by a framework agreement for the purchase of new locomotives, including those with alternative traction.
Wabtec is anticipated to use its proprietary NextFuel technology, developed for the Evolution locomotives in 2012, to convert locomotives to LNG in Kazakhstan. The technology allows for a mixture of diesel and gas to be used, with the latter reaching 80%. The gas is stored and transported in a special tender and the locomotive can run on full diesel if required. Switching to LNG will more than double the range, from 1,300 to 3,000 km, and reduce fuel consumption by 26%.
KTZ plans to use LNG locomotives to reduce journey times on the Transcaspian International Transport Route. These efforts to switch to alternative fuels are part of the Kazakh government’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. According to Condor Energies, LNG fuel can reduce CO2 emissions by 30%, particulate matter by 95% and eliminate sulphur emissions.
International experience
There are two countries where the use of gas fuel in rail transport is now being actively developed: the USA and Russia. In 2013, the US freight operator BNSF began testing LNG and diesel locomotives. GE, which was acquired by Wabtec in 2019, participated in the project. Two Evolution ES44AC diesel locomotives were then converted to gas, with a tank car used as a tender. Later, Progress Rail’s SD70ACe locomotives joined the trials, and the technology was tested in various climate zones. In 2016, the Florida-based operator FEC announced the start of commercial operations, but there is no information on the further development of the project. The website of Wabtec states that the NextFuel technology is commercially available from 2018.
Russia is also implementing several projects. The GT1 (later GT1h) mainline gas turbine locomotives and the TEM19 shunting locomotive, built by Sinara–Transport Machines (STM) and TMH in 2007–2013, run on LNG. The locomotives passed all tests and started pilot operation, but are now out of service. In 2011, the GT1 set a world record by hauling the longest freight train, consisting of 170 cars stretching over 2.36 km and weighing 16,000 t.
TEMG1 shunting gas locomotive at the Orenburg branch of Gazpromtrans. Source: Gazprom
STM is using its experience to develop the next generation of gas-fuelled mainline and shunting locomotives. While the TEMG1, a four-axle LNG shunting locomotive, is already in pilot operation, the holding is preparing to develop an eight-axle shunting locomotive, the TEMG7, and a mainline locomotive, the 2TE35AG. TMH develops similar locomotives. These are the six-axle TEM29 shunting locomotive and the three-section 3TE30G mainline locomotive. The locomotives are in demand by Russian Railways and Gazprom, a Russian multinational state-owned energy corporation, as confirmed by agreements between them and the locomotive builders. The current and future locomotive projects are supported by the government, which encourages their introduction into rail transport.
Another important project in the field of gas-fuelled locomotives was implemented by Yakutia Railways in 2022. Then, 2TE3250 (SD42ACe) locomotives, powered by a mixture of gas and diesel fuel and equipped with a cryogenic LNG tank as a tender, were in pilot operation. The operator planned to purchase a batch of such locomotives from Progress Rail, but the deal did not go through.
