New Fortress Energy expects to put a new floating storage and regasification unit-based import terminal and power plant into operation in the first quarter of 2025.
The outlook for the Nicaragua facility was part of a series of updates on FSRU and floating LNG production projects discussed on a third-quarter results call.
Chief executive Wes Edens said a new 300-MW power plant at the site has been completed and a jetty, where the 5 mtpa terminal’s floating storage unit will be moored, is 95% complete. The 138,000-cbm Energos Princess (built 2003) will be used as an FSU.
Edens said the 125,000-cbm FSRU Energos Freeze (built 1977) is expected to go on station there once it is out of dry-dock, and the facility is due to be operational early next year.
He also provided an update on the US-listed company’s Fast LNG offshore liquefaction unit off Altamira, Mexico, which he said had run for 14 days at 105% of nameplate capacity after some maintenance to replace a valve.
The CEO said the team has been discussing with vendors how to de-bottleneck the FLNG unit and optimise production to add between 3% and 10% to its nameplate capacity of 1.4 mtpa.
He said the company has loaded its fourth cargo.
The vessels loading from the LNG production unit are usually around 135,000 cbm, but its storage vessel, the 160,000-cbm NFE Penguin (built 2014), provides a buffer that gives flexibility, which means there is no downtime on loadings.
Asked about potential opportunities for the company’s FSRUs, Edens said some are utilised and others are surplus, referring to a vessel that is due to come off a short-term charter that New Fortress believes is below current market rates, offering upside for future deals.
He mentioned the “hidden value” of its shipping associate Energos Infrastructure’s portfolio and said there should be good activity to report on in the very near term.
Asked about Donald Trump’s re-election as president, Edens said it seems that the ban on US LNG export projects is very likely to be eased and more product will probably be produced.
In early November, New Fortress announced that it has started work to identify partners for one or more of its businesses, including projects in Brazil, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Fast LNG 1 and Klondike.
It will explore financings, commercial ventures or asset sales to enhance liquidity and financial flexibility.
Edens said the company’s businesses are constructed and operational, come with long-term supply matched to customers and with growth opportunities.
He then went into a detailed sales pitch for three of the projects, describing this combination as “the holy grail of infrastructure investments”.
The goal is to deleverage New Fortress and simplify for investors the merits of the assets that it owns. Asset sales are where the focus is, he said.
The company has hired advisers for this and is expecting a busy few months.
In a focus on its business in Jamaica, managing director Andrew Dete highlighted that the company has been able to do some spot LNG bunkering there and said this could be a huge opportunity in the future.
Edens described the quarter operationally as a “very placid one”.
Third-quarter net income tumbled to $11.3m from $62.3m in the same three months of 2023, but revenue rose to $567.5m from $514.5m.
New Fortress reduced its fourth-quarter guidance because of reduced quarterly volumes from its offshore Fast LNG unit due to maintenance and bringing its FSRU in Barcarena, Brazil into service in the fourth quarter.
