Norway’s Hoegh LNG Holdings has finally secured a firm contract from Australian Industrial Energy (AIE) for one of its floating storage and regasification units.
Hoegh said AIE has lifted final subjects for the FSRU contract it signed in 2021.
The Norwegian regas specialist originally earmarked the 170,000-cbm FSRU Hoegh Galleon (built 2019) for this business.
Hoegh said the contract is for 15 years. But Hoegh said AIE has early termination options after years five and 10.
AIE is also entitled to time the start-up of the contract between 2023 and 2025, depending on the Australian company’s requirements.
AIE, which is backed by domestic mining billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Squadron Energy, is pursuing an FSRU-based terminal project at Port Kembla in New South Wales.
Neither of Hoegh's listed spokesmen were immediately available for comment.
News of the firm fixture of the FSRU may disappoint some would-be charterers in Europe where the quest for floating regas tonnage has reached fever pitch as buyers try to find alternative solutions to importing Russian gas
AIE's project was first floated in 2018 and AIE selected Hoegh as its FSRU provider a year later.
In October 2020 Japanese trading house partners Marubeni and JERA withdrew from the project.
In May 2021 Hoegh said it was in the final stages of negotiations with AIE on a time-charter contract to deploy its FSRU for the Port Kembla project.
Hoegh LNG president & chief executive Thor Jorgen Guttormsen said: “We are very pleased that the FSRU contract with AIE has been confirmed and we look forward to working with AIE.”
