Page 11 - AsianOil Week 49 2021

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Hoegh wins FSRU contract for

Australian import project

Hoegh LNG has secured a contract to supply the floating storage and

regasification unit for Australia’s planned Port Kembla import project

COMMENTARY THE proposed Port Kembla LNG in New South cancelled its proposed Crib Point LNG import
Wales has taken another step towards becoming plan earlier this year after the State of Victoria
WHAT: Australia’s first LNG import project. Port Kem- rejected the proposal. Five proposals are cur-
Hoegh LNG has secured bla’s developer, Australian Industrial Energy rently on the table.
a contract to supply the (AIE), announced this week that it had con-
FSRU for Australia’s tracted Norway-based Hoegh LNG to supply the Port Kembla push
planned Port Kembla floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Gas received at the Port Kembla project would
project. for the project. be sent to the main Australian East Coast gas
Under the long-term agreement, the Höegh transmission network. In April 2020, the New
WHY: Galleon will serve the Port Kembla terminal, South Wales government approved a request to
Australia is seeking to which AIE expects to be operational by mid- increase the number of LNG carriers that would
offset declining domestic 2023. Construction has started on berth facil- arrive at the terminal to up to 46 per year. AIE
gas production. ities at the terminal and the project is currently made the request in anticipation of higher gas
on course to be the first LNG import facility in demand, especially during the winter months.
WHAT NEXT: Australia. AIE estimates that the Port Kembla project
Port Kembla LNG’s The development comes as Australia seeks to will require AUD250mn ($194mn) for con-
developer is targeting address declining domestic gas production. This struction and will be able to handle 1.8mn
a start-up date of is despite the fact that the country is a leading tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG.
mid-2023. exporter of LNG currently – however, it faces
depletion of its reserves over the long term. Going green
Indeed, consultancy EnergyQuest estimates Hoegh and AIE are also now trying to bolster
that all of Australia’s existing LNG export pro- their environmental credentials as energy devel-
jects could exhaust their proven and probable opers to contend with aligning their plans with
(2P) reserves by 2050 in the absence of new the energy transition. AIE said it had agreed with
production. Hoegh to collaborate on the “future design and
As a result of these concerns, a handful of development of a new generation FSRU capable
LNG import proposals have emerged, with of receiving clean fuels, which can be used as part
some more likely to be built than others. Port of future green energy supply chains”.
Kembla is leading the pack, while AGL Energy While the final design of the new FSRU

Week 49 10•December•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11