A unit of China’s state-owned energy giant PetroChina said it had supplied the commissioning cargo to Hong Kong’s first FSRU-based LNG import facility, owned by a joint venture of CLP Power and HK Electric.
According to a statement by PetroChina International issued on Tuesday, the chartered LNG carrier, Maran Gas Coronis, completed the LNG delivery to MOL’s 263,000-cbm MOL FSRU Challenger on May 14.
This is the first-ever LNG cargo for Hong Kong, opening a new channel for PetroChina to supply energy to Hong Kong, the company noted in the statement.
PetroChina International did not provide any additional information.
CLP Power and HK Electric said in March that they have issued a tender to buy the commissioning cargo for Hong Kong’s first LNG import terminal.
A spokeswoman for HK Electric told LNG Prime on May 5 that the 2007-built 145,700-cbm, Maran Gas Coronis, owned by Qatar’s Nakilat and Greece’s Maran Gas, arrived offshore Hong Kong to support the commissioning work for the offshore LNG terminal.
Contractor China Offshore Oil Engineering (COOEC), a unit of CNOOC, also confirmed in a separate statement that, following the arrival of the first LNG cargo, the commissioning operations have started on May 14.
World’s largest FSRU arrived in Hong Kong in April
Hong Kong LNG Terminal is a joint venture consisting of HK Electric and Castle Peak Power, in which CLP Power Hong Kong holds 70 percent, while China Southern Power Grid International has 30 percent.
The LNG import terminal project forms part of Hong Kong’s initiative to reduce emissions as the city and special administrative region of China is working to increase the use of natural gas to fuel its power plants.
The world’s largest FSRU, which will be renamed Bauhinia Spirit, has a nominal capacity of 600 million cubic feet per day with a maximum capacity of 800 million cubic feet per day.
MOL’s FSRU arrived in Hong Kong from Singapore on April 13.
After that, it berthed at the new double berth jetty in Hong Kong waters to start serving Hong Kong’s first LNG import facility under a charter deal on April 18.
Regasified LNG coming from the FSRU will supply two power plants and these include the Black Point power station located in the New Territories and Lamma power station located at Lamma Island.
CLP confirmed in its quarterly report this week that the facility is due to go into operation in mid-2023 and will enable Hong Kong to access “competitively priced natural gas” from international markets.