Karpowership and Mitsui OSK Lines joint venture pairing KARMOL is being hotly tipped as the favourite to supply an LNG import solution to the small Pacific island nation of New Caledonia.
Sources following the project said KARMOL has emerged as the favourite contender after a long and interrupted bid process that has gone through several iterations.
But they stressed that no final decision or contracts have been signed.
Upscaling
One said that KARMOL, along with other bidders, has been encouraging an upscaling of the floating storage and regasification unit proposed for the project with suggestions that it could be used as a regional hub to supply other demand in the region.
KARMOL is converting existing LNG carriers into FSRUs and, for some projects, linking these with powerships as a quick LNG-to-power solution.
To date, the joint venture has supplied a first FSRU to Dakar in Senegal, where the powership-FSRU combination is awaiting delivery of a first cargo shipment to the regasification unit.
Another two LNG carriers are under conversion for KARMOL.
New Caledonia’s FSRU hunt started out as an enquiry by Nouvelle-Caledonie Energie — which handles the state's energy requirements and those of Societe Le Nickel — for a company or consortium to design, build and operate a small-scale unit of around 40,000 cbm.
This would be sited on the island of Noumea and used to supply a gas-fired power-generation facility.
Complications
Fresh confusion hit New Caledonia’s LNG import project at the start of 2021 when French energy company Engie launched a request for quotations for a project to supply LNG to a rival planned import facility in the Bay of Prony, to the south-east of the original project.
The interest for bidders here was that Engie was seeking a larger FSRU of 125,000 cbm to 170,000 cbm as it moved to switch a coal-fired power station which serves a nickel plant over to run on gas.
But the situation in the island dependency is further complicated by the fact that a local debate is raging over the future of domestic nickel mining and smelting in what is a highly-prized environment for divers and naturalists.
In August, opposing sides launched their campaigns for what will be a third and final referendum on independence from France. It is scheduled to take place on 12 December.
Observers said the outcome of this could affect the decision on LNG imports.
In both 2018 and 2020, a majority voted against independence from France but the margin of the win shrank to just over 53%.
