Flagship floating storage and regasification unit leaves Singapore

Keppel Offshore & Marine has delivered the BW Tatiana liquefied natural gas floating storage and regasification unit, which will be deployed in El Salvador — Central America’s first FSRU.

The 137,000-cubic metre BW Tatiana last week left Keppel Shipyard’s Tuas yard in Singapore and is now en route to the Port of Acajutla, El Salvador.

The FSRU will be a centrepiece of the Energia del Pacifico LNG-to-power project.

Keppel in 2020 won a contract from the BW LNG-Invenergy joint venture to convert Shell’s moss-type LNG carrier Gallina into the FSRU, which has regasification capacity of 280 million cubic feet per day of gas.

The floater is to be deployed 1.2 kilometres offshore the Port of Acajutla from where it will supply feedstock via a subsea pipeline to the 378-megawatt power plant project that Invenergy is developing with Quantum.

A 44-kilometre, 230-kilovolt electric transmission line will connect the power plant’s output to the Central American Electrical Interconnection System, strengthening the region’s electric grid.

The project is due for completion in 2022.

The FSRU itself is owned by a 50:50 joint venture between BW LNG and Invenergy and the duo will jointly commission, operate and maintain the vessel.

The Energia del Pacifico project is expected to meet 30% of El Salvador’s energy demand, as the nation, which also utilises hydroelectric power, switches from burning expensive imported diesel and heavy fuel oil to gas-fired power generation.

Finance in place

Global sustainable energy developer Invenergy and BW LNG earlier this year closed a $128.3 million financial package with IDB Invest to finance the BW Tatiana.

“The close of financing for the FSRU represents a significant step forward in the completion of the transformational EDP project, the foundation for El Salvador’s clean energy future,” Meghan Schultz, senior vice president finance and capital markets at Invenergy, said at the time.

“This landmark, multi-component project is only made possible through the collaboration and support of our incredible partners. We are pleased to partner with BW LNG and IDB Invest as they share our commitment to innovation and excellence, and our vision to provide affordable, reliable energy to the region.”

Jessica Cheung, vice president, group treasury and corporate finance, at BW Group, added the company hoped this financing “encourages the development of many more LNG-to-power projects in the region”.