[ad_1]
Philippine electricity supplier First Gen Corp. (FGEN) said Monday it has awarded a contract to CNOOC Gas and Power Trading & Marketing Ltd. for the supply of about 130,000 cubic meters (4.6 million cubic feet) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the Southeast Asian country.
The single cargo is scheduled for delivery next month to FGEN wholly-owned subsidiary First Gen Singapore Pte. Ltd. on an ex-ship basis. “The LNG cargo to be provided by CNOOC will be delivered by an LNG carrier which will be unloaded into the storage tanks of the BW Batangas FSRU [floating storage and regasification unit] that is currently berthed at the First Gen Clean Energy Complex (FGCEC) in Batangas City”, FGEN said in a press release, referring to a coastal city south of the national capital Manila.
The LNG will be used at FGEN’s gas-fired power plants at the complex, said the company, the energy arm of the Philippine investment company of Lopez Holdings Corp.
FGEN has four gas-fueled power plants, which have a combined capacity of 2,017 megawatts, according to the company. The facilities depend on the Malampaya field. Malampaya is the only active of just two commercial natural gas discoveries in the Philippines, according to the country’s Department of Energy (DOE).
However, the field has been depleting. Output from Malampaya, offshore Palawan island, has consistently fallen since 2019 from 155.49 billion Bcf that year to 113.61 Bcf in 2022, according to an update by the DOE published February 15, 2023. Malampaya co-developer Shell PLC on November 1, 2022, announced the completion of the sale of its entire 45 percent operating stake to local firm Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc.
To help bridge a fuel supply gap amid growing energy demand, the DOE has approved several projects to build LNG import facilities. On June 2, 2023, it announced the completion of two of these, one of which is FGEN’s.
“The FGEN LNG Terminal will accelerate the ability to introduce LNG to the Philippines, to serve the natural gas requirements of existing and future gas-fired power plants of third parties and FGEN’s affiliates”, FGEN said in Monday’s announcement.
“FGEN believes the FGEN LNG Terminal will play a critical role in ensuring the energy security of the Luzon Grid and the Philippines”, it added referring to the biggest of the three main island divisions in the archipelago.
This is the second award for LNG supply FGEN has made in four months. On December 21, 2023, it announced it had awarded a contract to TotalEnergies Gas & Power Asia Private Ltd. for the supply of 154,500 cubic meters (5.5 MMcf) of LNG for the Philippines.
Last week it confirmed it was working on a fifth gas-fired power plant with a capacity of 1,200 MW.
“First Gen also confirms its goal to grow its total capacity to 13,000 MW in the next six years”, it said in a filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange April 10. “In line with this, the company currently estimates that approximately $20 billion of capital expenditures will be necessary to reach the target”.
To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
[ad_2]
Source link