US-listed New Fortress Energy has fired up a second floating storage and regasification unit-based LNG import terminal in Brazil in one week.
The company said its Terminal Gas Sul (TGS) in Santa Catarina went into operation after hooking up the 138,000-cbm FSRU Energos Winter (built 2004) at the long-planned facility.
In November, New Fortress announced it would charter in the FSRU Energos Winter from Energos Infrastructure, stating that the facility will “start commercial operations ahead of schedule in January 2024”. The regas vessel — one of the world’s first two LNG carrier-to-FSRU conversions, which was originally deployed to Brazil in 2009 — is a relet from state energy giant Petrobras.
The FSRU is due to go on a long-term charter to New Fortress at the end of the relet period from Petrobras.
New Fortress said TGS, which was originally due to start up in 2021, has a capacity of about 6m tonnes per annum with a send-out of 500m standard cubic feet per day.
The facility is connected to the shore by a 33-km pipeline, which links to the Transportadora Brasileira Gasoduto Bolivia-Brasil pipeline.
New Fortress, which yesterday announced the start-up of its Barcarena FSRU-based terminal in northern Brazil and talked up the potential the country offers in its results briefing, said TGS presents “a high-growth opportunity” for the company in the Brazilian power and gas markets.
It said the pipeline link connects the terminal to the wider gas market and over 3.5 GW of power that does not have firm, long-term gas supply contracts and industrial and residential gas consumers in the south region of Brazil.
“Both power and gas demand are set to substantially increase, while the historical main source of gas supply from Bolivia has declined and is expected to further diminish in the near term, the company said.
New Fortress chairman and chief executive Wes Edens described the terminal as “a key asset in Brazil’s evolving energy landscape”.
Speaking on a results conference call on Thursday, after returning from celebrations in Brazil, Edens said it was a coincidence that hook-up at the two terminals had been completed within a day of each other.
“With numerous new power projects required to balance the grid in Brazil in the near term, New Fortress Energy is poised to meet growing demand by leveraging its vertically integrated portfolio of LNG assets and expertise,” he said.
