Brazilian joint venture Gas Natural Acu is moving forward with the commissioning of the first plant as part of its LNG-to-power project in the Port of Acu in Rio de Janeiro.
GNA I consists of three Siemens gas turbines and one steam turbine that, together, will generate 1.3 GW of power in combined cycle.
The JV says it has already fired up the first two gas turbines while also completing tests to the National Interconnected System (SIN). It is also testing the steam turbine.
In addition, GNA plans to soon launch the third gas turbine as well.
These tests are one of the last steps before the start of commercial operations, scheduled during the first half of this year, GNA said.
Second LNG power plant to follow with additional two on the table
GNA is a venture consisting of UK’s energy giant BP, Germany’s engineer Siemens, and Prumo. The Brazilian private company is controlled by US-based EIG Global Energy Partners.
The venture is building the GNA I and GNA II LNG power plants located in Port of Acu.
A unit of China’s State Power Investment Corporation has also recently finalized its purchase of a 33% stake in the two LNG power plants.
These two plants have 3 GW of installed capacity, forming the largest gas-to-power project in Latin America. GNA plans to launch the second 1.6 GW power plant in 2023.
Moreover, the complex includes an LNG terminal with a total capacity of 21 million cubic meters per day. FSRU BW Magna arrived in June last year in the Brazilian port to start its contract serving GNA’s project.
After that the same year, BP supplied the first-ever cargo to BW’s FSRU. GNA is using this cargo to fire up the first power plant.
Besides the first two power plants, the partners and SPIC are planning to work on two additional plants as part of the project, GNA III and GNA IV.
These power plants would run on a combination of LNG and domestic gas from Brazil’s vast pre-salt reserves.