LNG

Morocco is advancing plans for an LNG import terminal and integrated 1.2 GW gas power plant at the Nador West Med Port. At the heart of the hub is a FSRU, initially sized at around 0.5 bcm/year, currently under tender and expected to start operations in late 2026 or early 2027.

Developers plan to add 18.7 gigawatts of combined-cycle capacity to the US power grid by 2028, with 4.3 GW under construction. In contrast, an 98 MW unit at Plaquemines LNG terminal was the only gas power unit to come online last year.

First Gen is divesting 60 percent of its Philippine gas business to Prime Infra in a deal worth 500 billion Pesos (US$890m), covering controlling interests in BW Batangas FSRU, the proposed 1.2 GW Santa Maria power plant as well as the Santa Rita, San Sorenzo and Avion power plants (1,597 MW combined).

Santa Maria, a 1,200 MW combined-cycle power plant, will be fuelled via an interim offshore LNG terminal which is also part of the divested assets. Tokyo Gas had been contracted to supply an LNG cargo to First Gen in July 2024 which had been unloaded at the BW Batangas floating storage and regas unit (FSRU).

First Gen confirmed at the time it closed a tender for a cargo by awarding a contract to Tokyo Gas. Similar contracts were signed earlier with Shell Eastern LNG, Trafigura, TotalEnergies Gas and Power Asia and CNOOC Gas and Power Trading. The regasified LNG is designated for the First Gen Clean Energy Complex, comprising the Santa Rita, Avion and San Gabriel power plants.

The 1 GW Santa Maria CCGT used to supply baseload and mid-merit power to the Luzon grid. The Sta. Maria CCGT was initially meant to enter operations by the end of this year or early 2025, but the timeline slipped and First Gen now decided to divest its gas power assets altogether.

Following the sale, Prime Infra will hold the lion’s share of 60% in the Batangas-based gas power plants, with First Gen retaining the remaining 40%. The same equity split will apply to the LNG terminal, while Tokyo Gas of Japan will continue to hold a 20% stake.

Prime Infra already owns Prime Energy, the operator of the vast but depleting Malampaya gas field, which used to be a critical source of fuel for Luzon’s power generation.

First Gen Chairman and CEO Federico Lopez haled the deal as a “major step in our mission to forge collaborative pathways toward a decarbonized and regenerative future.” The partnership is meant to provide First Gen with more financial leeway to pursue its renewable energy projects.

As the largest renewable energy producer of the Philippines, First Gen covers about 18% pf the country’s electricity supply. Both First Gen and the media company ABS-CBN belong to the Lopez group of companies.

Siemens Energy said its HL-class gas-fired power technology is poised to enable particularly low-emission, economical and flexible power generation from mid-2024 for Taiwan's increasing LNG imports.

Taiwan in July 2021 signed a new LNG supply with Qatar Petroleum for 1.25 million tonnes per annum of cargoes as the Taiwanese use more of the fuel and expand their infrastructure.

Taiwan is still Asia’s fifth-largest importer after North Asia’s top three of Japan, China and South Korea and with India in fourth place.

The Taiwanese are constructing a third LNG import terminal to meet increasing demand after imports rose 6 percent last year to 17.75 million tonnes.

Under the Taiwan expansion plans, the national energy company CPC Corp. is developing its third LNG import terminal in the Taoyuan district of Datan Borough.

The first phase is under construction and could be completed by 2023. A second expansion phase is also proposed with the target of full commissioning by 2025.

The first expansion of Taiwan’s existing Tai-Chung LNG terminal was completed at the end of 2019.

Further work is planned, including the addition of another berth and associated tanks, to be carried out in two phases.

The 1.8 MTPA expansion project at Taiwan’s second terminal, the Yung-An facility, including three new storage tanks and related regasification facilities, is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

Consortium

Siemens Energy, together with its consortium partner CTCI Corp, the leading Taiwanese engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) company, will build the Sun Ba Power Phase II combined-cycle power plant.

“The plant will be an important building block in Taiwan's energy transition, which aims to shift from coal and nuclear power to environmentally friendly gas-fired power plants and renewable energies,” explained Munich-based Siemens Energy.

“The Sun Ba II facility will be built in Tainan in southwest Taiwan, and have an installed electrical capacity of 1,100 megawatts (MW),” added the company.

“It will be fired with regasified liquefied natural gas and Siemens Energy will also provide long-term service for the plant's core components,” it stated.

The customer is the independent power producer Sun Ba Power Corp.

“We are very excited to contribute to the energy transition of Taiwan with our leading HL-class gas turbine technology,” said Karim Amin, Executive Vice President Generation at Siemens Energy.

“This technology offers substantial value for Sun Ba Power Corp.'s project, as it combines high power density with world-class efficiencies,” added Amin.

“As a result, a large amount of electricity can be produced at the lowest possible cost while driving significant CO2 reductions at the same time,” he explained.

As one of the world's foremost manufacturers of semiconductors and a technology leader, Taiwan depends on secure and affordable power supply.

“Since Taiwan must import its entire natural gas requirements as LNG at comparatively high costs, the efficiency of gas-fired power plants has a particularly strong impact on their economic viability,” declared Siemens Energy.

Sun Ba II is designed as a multi-shaft combined-cycle power plant in which two gas turbines and one steam turbine each drive its own electrical generator.

Siemens Energy's scope of supply includes the plant’s power island, consisting of two SGT6-9000HL gas turbines, one SST-5000 steam turbine, three SGen6-2000P generators, two heat-recovery steam generators and the SPPA-T3000 control system.

“The service contract includes long-term service over 25 years for both gas turbines, the generators, the steam turbine and the heat recovery steam generators,” said Siemens Energy. 

GRTgaz, the French natural gas network operator and owner of LNG import terminals, has issued a report on gas flows and imports and exports during the Covid-19 crisis and the evolution of consumption and demand as gas-fired power stations begin to restart.

Panama’s $1.15 billion AES Colón venture, an integrated LNG import terminal and power plant, is due to start full commercial operation on September 1. Investors inaugurated the project this week.

Running the new efficient power stations on LNG helps Pakistan save between $2 billion and $3 billion in fuel costs. Pakistan LNG sources cost-competitive spot LNG cargoes for the three new combined-cycle plants – the Balloki, Haveli Bahadur Shah and Bhikki CCGTs.

Japan’s Mitsui, together with its Bangladeshi consortium partner Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Ltd (CPGCBL), is developing a combined-cycle gas power plant in Matarbari, Cox Bazar. With a generating capacity of up to 600 MW, it will be the second government-led JV power project that will run on regasified LNG.