Power producer First Gen said it has agreed on a new delivery date for the chartered 162,000-cbm FSRU BW Paris due to a delay in the completion of its Batangas LNG import terminal in the Philippines.
The firm controlled by the Lopez family last year awarded the five-year FSRU contract to BW Gas, a unit of the Singapore-based gas giant BW, as it looks to replace declining volumes from the Malampaya gas field.
BW’s converted FSRU BW Paris will serve the import facility at First Gen’s existing Batangas energy complex.
In addition to the FSRU, the project, developed by First Gen’s unit FGEN LNG, consists of the modification of the existing jetty for multi-use and adding gas receiving facilities.
First Gen said in a statement issued on Wednesday that FGEN LNG has requested the Department of Energy to extend the validity of its permit to construct its interim offshore LNG terminal from September 23, 2022 to March 23, 2023.
“The request is due to projected delay in the completion of the project caused by events and circumstances not within the reasonable control of FGEN LNG,” it said.
First Gen did not provide additional information regarding the delay.
Separately, FGEN LNG and its FSRU provider, BW FSRU IV have agreed to move delivery of the FSRU BW Paris from the first quarter of 2023 to the end of the second quarter or early in the third quarter 2023, it said.
Seeking LNG supplies
Last month, the firm said it had launched a tender to secure LNG for the FSRU-based facility.
The company was looking for LNG supplies from 2023 to 2027.
The facility would serve the natural gas requirements of existing and future gas-fired power plants of third parties and FGEN LNG affiliates, it previously said.
The Philippines currently has no operational LNG import plants, but there are plans for several LNG facilities.
AG&P previously said that its facility in Batangas Bay would become the first LNG import in the Philippines following launch later this year.