Lithuanian LNG terminal operator KN is joining forces with a unit of UK-based energy giant BP to develop an LNG truck loading station in Brazil’s Port of Acu, the home of GNA’s LNG-to-power project.
GNA’s LNG-to-power project includes an FSRU-based LNG terminal, which is served by the 173,400-cbm FSRU BW Magna and operated by KN.
BP, along Siemens, SPIC, and Prumo, is a shareholder in GNA and supplies LNG to the project.
The company is planning to develop an LNG truck loading station at the Port of Acu in Rio de Janeiro and has invited KN to contribute to the development.
According to a statement by KN issued on Tuesday, KN and BP Gas & Power Investments, a unit of BP, signed a cooperation agreement to develop the project.
KN said the planned LNG truck loading station will allow gas to be delivered to consumers that are not connected to the gas pipeline network in the southeast region of Brazil.
This could create new demand centers and support industrial customers’ decarbonization agendas, it said.
Under the cooperation agreement, BP and KN will collaborate by evaluating the project’s commercial viability, as well as executing various development phase tasks with a view to a planned final investment decision at the end of 2023, the firm said.
As per the LNG terminal, FSRU BW Magna arrived in June 2020 in the Brazilian port to start its contract serving GNA’s project.
After that, BP supplied the first-ever cargo to BW’s FSRU in December 2020.
In September 2021, GNA commissioned the first 1.3-gigawatt LNG power plant, while work on the second 1.7-gigawatt started last year.
Combined, these two plants will have 3 GW of installed capacity, forming the largest gas-to-power project in Latin America.
Second LNG move in a week
Last week, KN announced that it became the commercial operator of the Elbehafen LNG terminal in Brunsbüttel, northern Germany.
This marks KN’s second involvement in a German LNG terminal, following its role as the commercial operator of the Wilhelmshaven LNG terminal on the North Sea coast since autumn of last year.
Both of these facilities feature Hoegh LNG’s FSRUs which are chartered by the German government.
KN operates the FSRU-based LNG import facility in Klaipeda and the small-scale reloading facility. To date it has contributed to more than 10 different LNG projects around the world.
Under its new long-term strategy for 2023–2050, the firm will work to further develop its international LNG business.
“The competences accumulated in Klaipeda in the development of the LNG reloading station and the entire LNG value chain, as well as the operational experience gained in the Port of Acu, will be useful for the partner in the development of the trucked LNG station project and will contribute to the successful implementation of it,” Darius Silenskis, CEO of KN, said in the statement.
Silenskis added that this project is in line with the objectives of the company’s new strategy, which includes expanding the LNG business abroad and securing new investment opportunities by 2030.