US-listed New Fortress Energy will use a floating storage and regasification unit to supply gas to a new power plant it plans to build in Nicaragua.
The outfit — which is focused on small and midsize LNG schemes and headed up by co-founder and chief executive Wes Edens — will build a 300 MW natural gas-fired power plant near Puerto Sandino on the country’s Pacific coast, about 70 km from Nicaragua's capital and largest city, Managua.
New Fortress said it had signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Nicaragua’s electricity distribution companies Distribuidora de Electricidad del Norte and Distribuidora de Electricidad del Sur.
The FSRU will supply gas to the new plant, which will be connected to the country’s electricity grid.
National grid
New Fortress said that under the terms of the PPA, it will provide more than 21trn Btu of natural gas over 25 years, which is equivalent to about 700,000 gallons of LNG or 60,000 MMBtu per day.
A company spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for further details on the size and sourcing of the FSRU.
New Fortress said it would fund the Nicaraguan project with “cash on hand and funds from operations”.
The new terminal and power plant are anticipated to start commercial operations in the second half 2021.
New Fortress has been open about its aims to expand its LNG supply terminals.
In its November results briefing, Edens said the company would grow its terminals portfolio to 10 by the end of 2021, in what he described as a “short-term focus” for the outfit.
New Fortress has put three LNG terminals into operation in Jamaica, using a mix of FSRU and small-scale shuttle LNG tonnage.
The company said in November that its Puerto Rico facility would start shortly with a fifth under construction in Mexico.
Last month, TradeWinds named New Fortress — which last year hired former Frontline and Pillarstone executive Jens Martin Jensen to head its shipping business — as the company behind a low-profile order for two 30,000-cbm LNG carrier newbuildings at South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.
The newbuildings are due for delivery in mid-2021.
