First Gen Corp. said Thursday it shortlisted three foreign companies to build a floating storage and re-gasification unit in its Batangas liquefied natural gas terminal.
First Gen said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Thursday unit FGEN LNG Corp. identified BW Gas Limited, GasLog LNG Services ltd. and Hoegh LNG Asia Pte. Ltd. as the three preferred tenders for the chartering of an FSRU for its interim offshore LNG terminal in Batangas City.
An FSRU is an LNG carrier that is capable of storing LNG and which has an onboard re-gasification plant capable of returning LNG into a gaseous state and then supplying it directly into the gas network. A typical FSRU has a storage capacity of between 125,000 and 170,000 cubic meters.
According to the International Gas Union World LNG Report 2020 Edition, about 6 percent of the global fleet of 541 LNGC vessels operated as FSRUs as of end-2019.
FGEN LNG’s Interim Offshore LNG Terminal Project consists of construction works necessary to modify a liquid fuel jetty that will enable it to become multiple-use and build an adjunct onshore gas receiving facility to receive and deliver gas to end-users.
Once completed, the project will utilize an FSRU that will be berthed at the Multi-Purpose Jetty to store and re-gasify LNG for use when required.
“The project will allow FGEN LNG to accelerate its ability to introduce LNG to the Philippines as early as third quarter of 2022 and is intended to serve the natural gas requirements of existing and future gas-fired power plants of third parties and FGEN LNG affiliates,” FirstGen said.
“FGEN LNG believes that the project will play a critical role in ensuring the energy security of the Luzon grid and the Philippines,” it said.
The company said the existing indigenous Malampaya gas resource is expected to be less reliable in producing and providing sufficient fuel supply for the country’s existing gas-fired power plants and even less so for additional gas-fired power plants.
“The entry of LNG to supplement and eventually replace Malampaya gas will encourage new power plant developments, as well as industrial and transport industries, to consider it as a replacement to more costly and polluting fuels,” FirstGen said.
The project represents the initial phase of the FGEN Batangas LNG terminal which was previously declared by the Energy Investment Coordinating Council through the Department of Energy as an “Energy Project of National Significance” under Executive Order No. 30.