Tuesday, September 3, 2019

First Gen picks Japan firm for LNG hub


By JORDEENE B. LAGARE September 03, 2019

LISTED First Gen Corp. (FGEN) has chosen a Japanese company to handle the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) needs of its planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Batangas province.
In a disclosure on Monday, the Lopez-led renewable energy company identified that firm as JGC Corp., which has undertaken more than 20,000 projects — many of which involving oil and gas — in more than 80 countries since its establishment in 1928.
“We congratulate JGC for all of their hard work [that] has led to [it securing the] preferred tenderer status for First Gen’s LNG terminal project,” Jonathan Russell, First Gen executive vice president and chief commercial officer, was quoted as saying in the disclosure.
“We look forward to working with JGC to make this energy project of national significance a success, as the project is crucial to ensure the continued operations of the 3.2 GW [gigawatt] existing natural gas-fired plants, given the expected and continuing reduction in gas supply from the Malampaya field up to the expiration of the contracts by 2024,” he added.
Russell was referring to the 1,000-megawatt (MW) Santa Rita, 500 MW San Lorenzo, 420 MW San Gabriel, and 97 MW Avion facilities, which reply on Malampaya for their supply.
“The early introduction of LNG by FGEN would also enable LNG to immediately become a fuel choice for any developer that is considering the building of new gas-fired power plants with a lower carbon footprint that will support introduction of more intermittent renewables for the Philippines as an alternative to building new coal-fired power plants….” the First Gen official said.
First Gen subsidiary FGEN LNG Corp. will develop the planned terminal in the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in the villages of Sta. Clara, Sta. Rita Aplaya and Bolbok in Batangas City.
JGC’s selection ends a five-year-long EPC tendering phase, during which 22 companies were invited to participate and 18 showed interest in the project.
This comes after the project was declared an energy project of national significance in August, after First Gen and its Japanese partner Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. broke ground on the planned facility in May, and after the Department of Energy approved in early March the firm’s application for a notice to proceed to build the hub.
First Gen shares increased by 30 centavos or 1.14 percent to close at P26.70 each on Monday.

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