First Gen Corp gets permit for interim LNG terminal

Philippine First Gen Corporation said its unit, FGEN LNG, received a DoE permit to built an interim offshore LNG terminal in Batangas City.

The Department of Energy granted a permit for the construction, expansion, rehabilitation and modification (PCERM) of the facility in the First Gen Clean Energy Complex.

The project consists of construction works necessary to modify the existing jetty that will enable it to become a multi-purpose jetty. It also includes the construction of an adjunct onshore gas receiving facility.

The project represents the initial phase of the FGEN Batangas LNG terminal that was previously declared by the Energy Investment Coordinating Council through the DOE as an “Energy Project of National Significance.”

First Gen expects the construction phase of the project to begin by the end of the third quarter or early fourth quarter of 2020. This will follow FGEN LNG’s completion of preparations that include the design and implementation of enhanced work and safety protocols and procedures required to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on construction personnel and the local community.

In parallel with the construction phase, FGEN LNG is preparing to issue a binding invitation to tender for a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) upon completion of its ongoing non-binding process.

Three FSRU providers, BW Gas Limited, GasLog LNG, and Hoegh LNG Asia, have expressed interest in providing the FSRU that will provide LNG storage and regasification services to the project once constructed.

The project will allow FGEN LNG to accelerate its ability to introduce LNG to the Philippines as early as the third quarter of 2022, to serve the natural gas requirements of existing and future gas-fired power plants of third parties and FGEN LNG affiliates.

FGEN LNG believes the project will play a critical role in ensuring the energy security of the Luzon grid and the Philippines, particularly as the 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 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.