December 22, 2018 3:01pm By TED CORDERO, GMA News
Lopez-led First Gen Corp. has
formally signified its intent to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal
in the country.
In a disclosure to the Philippine
Stock Exhange, First Gen said its wholly-owned unit FGEN LNG Corp. has
submitted an application to the Department of Energy for a notice to
proceed "for the construction of the FGEN Batangas LNG Terminal Project to
be located in the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas City."
"The FGEN Batangas LNG Terminal
Project is intended to serve the natural gas requirements of existing and
future gas-fired power plants of third parties and FGEN LNG affiliates,” the
company said.
The company's application came after
First Gen entered into a joint development agreement (JDA) with Tokyo Gas
Co. Ltd. for the LNG terminal project.
"The JDA is a preliminary
agreement between the parties to jointly pursue the development of the FGEN
Batangas LNG Terminal Project," it said.
Under the agreement, Tokyo Gas will
take a 20-percent participating interest in the FGEN LNG Project and provide
support in development work to achieve a Final Investment Decision (FID).
"Upon reaching FID under the
JDA, the parties will enter into a Definitive Agreement to proceed with the
construction of the FGEN Batangas LNG Terminal Project."
First Gen's move is the second bid
for the DOE's LNG hub initiative. Its application came two months after
Tanglawan Philippines LNG Inc. - the joint venture of China National Offshore
Oil Corp. (CNOOC) and Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. - applied to construct
an integrated LNG facility in Batangas.
The DOE is pushing for an LNG
terminal facility to avoid shooting up consumer electricity rates due to the
expected depletion of resources at the Malampaya natural gas facility.
Malampaya supplies the LNG
requirements of three power plants with a combined generating capacity of 2,700
megawatts in Luzon—enough to meet up to 30 percent of Luzon’s electricity
needs, or about 20 percent of the country’s total electricity requirements. —
MDM, GMA News
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