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Back in February 2020, NFE signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with Distribuidora de Electricidad del Norte (DisNorte) and Distribuidora de Electricidad del Sur (DisSur), Nicaragua’s electricity distribution companies.
As part of the deal, NFE agreed to build a natural gas-fired power plant with a capacity of about 300 megawatts near Puerto Sandino to supply power to Nicaragua’s national electric grid, and an LNG receiving, storage, and regasification terminal.
NFE said at the time that the facility was expected to begin commercial operations in the second half of 2021, subject to various conditions.
According to NFE’s chief Wes Edens, the 300 MW power plant is 100 percent complete.
“I think it’s the first new modern power plant built in the country in the last 30 years and it is ready for operations,” he said during NFE’s second-quarter earnings call on Friday.
FSU and jetty
He said that five miles (eight kilometers) away from the power plant, there’s a jetty, where a floating storage unit will be moored.
The 138,000-cbm Energos Princess, which just picked up the first cargo at NFE’s FLNG project off Altamira, Mexico will serve as and FSU at the jetty.
Edens said the jetty is 95 percent complete and “waiting for the ship to show up.”
The project is expected to have a 5 mtpa annual throughout.
The last part of the project to be completed is the the pipeline which connects the jetty and the power plant.
“All those construction materials were delivered in the last couple of weeks and are ready to be installed. We expect that to be completed in September and begin operations thereafter,” Edens said.
In addition, he said the power plant is also located next to the IDB line, which allows NFE to then export power from Nicaragua to neighboring countries.
“So we feel like this is not just a Nicaragua terminal but actually a Central American terminal. I think there’s a significant amount of activity that will come as a result of that,” he said.
Brazilian business
Earlier this year, NFE launched both its Barcarena and Santa Catarina FSRU-based LNG terminals in Brazil.
The Barcarena LNG terminal features the 160,000-cbm FSRU, Energos Celsius, while the 138,250-cbm FSRU Energos Winter serves the Santa Catarina LNG terminal.
NFE said in the quarterly report that both of the terminals completed ship-to-ship LNG operations in the second quarter and are flowing gas to commercial customers.
The company is building two power plants near the Barcarena terminal.
The first is the Celba 2 power power plant with a capacity of 630 MW.
NFE ‘s managing director Andrew Dete said during the call that the plant is 70 percent complete and “well on track to commence cash flows in the second half of next year.”
The company targets COD (commercial operations date in July 2025.
Besides this plant, NFE is building the Portocem project.
In March this year, NFE completed its previously announced deal with Ceiba Energy to acquire a 1.6 GW capacity reserve contract, positioning NFE as a “leading” LNG-to-power company in Brazil.
In April this year, NFE finalized an EPC contract with a consortium formed by Mitsubishi Power Americas and Andrade Gutierrez for the 1.6 GW power plant being built adjacent to the Barcarena LNG terminal.
Dete said the project is “well ahead of schedule for our COD, which is the second half of 2026.”