3 foreign firms shortlisted for First Gen project

By Jordeene B. LagareDecember 23, 2020
https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/12/23/business/companies/3-foreign-firms-shortlisted-for-first-gen-project/815967/

FIRST Gen Corp. is getting closer to choosing the entity that will build its floating storage regasification unit (FSRU), which forms part of its planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Batangas.

In a disclosure, the Lopez-led company said its subsidiary FGEN LNG Corp. has selected three preferred tenderers to proceed with the next stage of its binding tender process for the charter of an FSRU in its interim offshore LNG terminal.

These are BW Gas Ltd., Dynagas Ltd., and Hoegh LNG Asia Pte Ltd.

BW Gas is a subsidiary of Bermuda-based BW Group that is involved in the global market of transportation and floating regasification services of LNG, including construction, ownership, and operation of FSRUs, and other LNG carriers (LNGCs).

Dynagas Ltd., headquartered in Athens, Greece, is an LNG maritime transportation company that manages a fleet of LNG carriers (15 on the water + 2 under construction) on long-term charters with major energy companies and two FSRU currently under construction.

Meanwhile, Hoegh LNG Asia Pte Ltd. is a unit of Hoegh LNG Ltd., which is itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hoegh LNG Holdings. It is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

An FSRU is a LNGC capable of storing LNG and has an onboard regasification plant capable of returning LNG into a gaseous state and then supplying it directly into the gas network.

A typical FSRU has a storage capacity of between 125,000 cubic meters (m3) and 170,000 m3. According to the International Gas Union World LNG Report – 2020 Edition, approximately 6 percent of the global fleet of 541 LNGC vessels operate as FSRUs as of end-2019.

First Gen had said the planned LNG facility would 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.

The LNG terminal, to rise at First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas City, was declared an energy project of national significance in August last year by the Energy Investment Coordinating Council through the Department of Energy.

First Gen shares went up by 90 centavos or 3.19 percent to close at P29.10 each on Monday.