FGen LNG Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Gen Corp., will likely receive a notice from the Energy Department to proceed with its liquefied natural gas project in Batangas City.
“I think so. It will still be presented to the Centralized Review and Evaluation Committee. But the recommendation is that it [proposal] is alive and good,” Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said when asked about the status of FGen’s LNG project application.
First Gen signed a joint development agreement with Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. on Dec. 5. The JDA is a preliminary agreement between the parties to jointly pursue the development of the FGen Batangas LNG Terminal Project at First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas City.
Fuentebella said FGen LNG’s application “looks positive” but it has to be formalized by the CREC.
First Gen earlier said it would pursue and develop the import and re-gasification LNG terminal and complete it by 2024.
First Gen is one of the biggest independent power producers in the country and the leading gas power generation with 2,000 megawatts in operating gas assets composed of four gas-fired power plants–the 1,000 MW Santa Rita Power Plant, the 500-MW San Lorenzo Power Plant, the 414-MW San Gabriel Power Plant and the 97-MW Avion Power Plant.
Tokyo Gas, headquartered in Tokyo, is a leading LNG player with more than 50 years of experience in the LNG business. Tokyo Gas is one of the largest purchasers of LNG in the world with an annual volume of 14 million tons per annum. It has over 63,000 kilometers of gas pipelines serving more than 11 million customers.
Fuentebella said the application for NTP of Excelerate Energy L.P., a US-based LNG company located in Texas, looked insufficient.
He said the department was not likely to grant the application of Excelerate.
The department earlier issued an NTP to Tanglawan Philippines LNG Inc. for its LNG facility in Batangas.
Tanglawan is the joint venture of CNOOC Gas and Power Group Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp., China’s largest LNG importer and terminal operator and Phoenix Petroleum Philippines led by Davao City-based businessman Dennis Uy.
The Energy Department also granted Energy World Gas Operations Philippines Inc. a permit to construct, own and operate a liquefied natural import terminal and regasification facility at Pagbilao Grande Island in Quezon Province.
“We are preparing for the eventual depletion of Malampaya,” Fuentebella said.
The Malampaya gas field in northwest Palawan is the largest source of natural gas in the country.