Page 14 - GLNG Week 28
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GLNG ASIA GLNG
Bangladesh LNG power project secures Japanese loans
INVESTMENT
JAPANESE companies intend to loan JPY69bn ($644mn) to a new LNG- red power project in Bangladesh.
e 750-MW thermal power plant (TPP) will be located 40 km from Dhaka City and is slated to come online in 2022. e plant will sell its elec- tricity to state-owned Bangladesh Power Devel- opment Board (BPDB) under a 22-year contract.
Japan’s largest LNG trader, JERA, bought a 49% stake in the project from India’s Reliance Power last year. Reliance owns the remaining 51% of the project.
Japan Bank for International Coopera- tion (JBIC) will be responsible for JPY28.5bn ($265.9mn) of the project loan. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japanese banks Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and MUFG Bank will also provide credit. Japan’s public sector Nippon Export and Investment Insurance will guarantee private-sector loans as well as JERA’s stake in the project.
e South Asian country is a major gas pro- ducer, extracting 28.7bn cubic metres in 2019, according to BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy. is was an 8% increase from the 26.6
bcm produced in 2018. However, the country began struggling with shortages several years ago as a result of soaring residential and power sector demand. ese shortages have led to roll- ing blackouts, which have dragged on economic growth.
Bangladesh is seeking to boost imports of the fuel and has been expanding not just its import capacity but also its transmission network.
State-run Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL) completed the 181 km Chatto- gram-Feni-Bakhrabad gas transmission pipe- line in April, paving the way for increased LNG imports. GTCL managing director Md. Atiquz- zaman told S&P Global Platts that the pipeline could carry around 1bn cubic feet (28.32mn cubic metres) per day of regasi ed LNG, up from a maximum of 650mn cubic feet (18.41 mcm) per day.
In addition to long-term import contracts with Qatar’s RasGas and Oman Trading Inter- national, Bangladesh has signed supply deals with 14 global international LNG traders that will allow the country to access spot cargoes and diversify its supply portfolio.
EUROPE
Cyprus breaks ground on LNG import terminal
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
CYPRUS has laid the foundation stone of an LNG import terminal in a ceremony attended by its president, Nicos Anastasiades.
The terminal and a floating regasification storage unit (FSRU), supplied by a Chinese-led consortium, are expected to be up and run- ning by the end of 2022. e project will allow Cyprus to use gas instead of fuel oil and diesel in its power sector. is, in turn, is anticipated to bring down the cost of electricity for consumers and save Cyprus a considerable amount in EU environmental nes.
The project languished for years before nally securing EU nancial backing last year, in the form of a €101mn ($114mn) grant from the European Commission and a €100mn loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). e project’s total budget is €289mn.
Numerous tenders have taken place over the years, but a contest last year led to an award to China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering, a divi- sion of China’s state-owned CNPC, Chinese shipyard Hudong-Zhonghau, Greece’s Metron and Norway’s Wilhelmsen Ship Management.
e ordered FSRU will be tted out in Singa- pore, and the contract also covers the construc- tion of a jetty, mooring facilities, pipelines and infrastructure.
Cypriot authorities have hailed the pro- ject as the island country’s biggest ever energy undertaking.
“It is a project which places Cyprus in the orbit of a new energy era, opening up robust prospects both for economic growth as well as for the broader prosperity of our country and its people,” Anastasiades said at the ceremony.
e completed LNG terminal will be owned by Cyprus’ state gas rm ETYFA, and its gas will be supplied to state power utility EAC, which aims to bring six gas-fired generation units online by 2023. ETYFA’s parent company DEFA has also opened a tender for the supply of LNG from the facility, receiving expressions of interest (EoIs) from 25 international companies, accord- ing to authorities.
Some of the gas will also be taken by inde- pendent power producers (IPPs), with three companies having secured licences in Cyprus to build power plants and sell electricity.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 28 17•July•2020
