First Gen sees LNG terminal operational by yearend  

MANILA, Philippines — Lopez-led First Gen Corp. is progressing to make fully operational its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Batangas before yearend.

First Gen president and COO Francis Giles Puno said the company expects  the “normalization of operations” by November.

“So, hopefully, before the end of the year, it is complete. It is operational,” he said.

FGEN LNG, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Gen, has constructed the LNG terminal in Batangas and executed a five-year charter of the floating regasification unit BW Batangas, which will provide LNG storage and regasification services as part of the project.

The company last July awarded the contract for the initial shipment of the company’s LNG supply requirement to Shell Eastern Trading (Pte.) Ltd.  following a successful international tender offer.

“We hope to commission the gas by some time end of October. We already took delivery of the first cargo,” Puno said.

“The way it works is like this, we have the   floating storage regasification unit, then we have the onshore facilities. Both of them are going through commissioning already, but they are not yet connected,” he said.

Puno said the target is to put in place the connection by mid-October.

The FGEN LNG terminal is expected to accelerate the ability to introduce LNG to the Philippines and will serve the natural gas requirements of existing and future gas-fired power plants of third parties and First Gen’s affiliates.

The company expects the terminal to play a critical role in ensuring the energy security of the Luzon grid and the Philippines.

First Gen has a portfolio of four existing gas-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 2,017 megawatts that have been supplied for many years with gas from the Malampaya field.

FGEN LNG earlier signed a memorandum of understanding with Enrique Razon’s Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. for the proposed lease and operation of the FGEN LNG terminal.

First Gen and Prime Infra are leading efforts to develop a gas aggregator framework, which would bring order to the distribution of natural gas from the Malampaya field and those imported from other countries.

The gas aggregator framework is intended to make it possible to blend indigenous Malampaya gas with imported LNG to ensure a least-cost solution for consumers, enhance energy security, and provide a competitive power generation market.

This will be done while exploration activities leading to the commercial development of new indigenous natural gas fields are also undertaken.