LNG News Editor:
Australian Industrial Energy, a company controlled by billionaire businessman Andrew Forrest, has signed a long-term charter deal with Höegh LNG for a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to operate at Port Kembla, south of Sydney.
Under the agreement, the FSRU vessel “Höegh Galleon”, the newest FSRU in Höegh LNG’s fleet, will serve the terminal.
Site lease
A site lease for up to 25 years has already been signed with New South Wales Ports for the Port Kembla project.
While Australia is the world’s largest LNG exporter about 80 million tonnes per annum of shipments being made into the Asia-Pacific region, Australian states like NSW, Victoria and South Australia are short on gas resources.
AIE said construction had already started for the berth facilities at Port Kembla, and the terminal was expected to be operational by mid-2023, making it the first project of its kind in Australia.
In addition, AIE and Höegh LNG have agreed to collaborate on the future design and development of a new generation FSRUs capable of receiving clean fuels which can be used as part of “future green energy” supply chains.
Chairman of AIE Andrew Hagger said the agreement with Höegh LNG supported AIE’s vision to actively resolve the energy crisis on the East Coast and accelerate the use of clean energy fuels.
“With the phasing down of Australia’s fossil fuel industry already underway, the terminal will be critical to ensuring hundreds of thousands of Australian businesses and households avoid supply shortfalls from 2023 onwards,” stated Hagger. Richard Tyrrell Chief Development Officer at Höegh LNG, said the company was excited by the potential to support Australia’s first natural gas import terminal, providing the market with resilience and security of supply.
“We share AIE’s clean energy vision and look forward to working together on the next generation capabilities that will ensure that the Port Kembla Energy Terminal remains at the forefront of the energy transition,” added Tyrrell.
The site lease was signed in November 2020, just after AIE’s subsidiary Squadron Energy bought Japanese investors out of the Port Kembla venture.
The former partners were the world’s largest LNG purchaser, JERA Co. Inc. of Japan, and the Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp.
