State-owned Pakistan LNG said it has signed a deal with compatriot private power utility K-Electric to supply the latter’s power plant with regasified liquefied natural gas.
Under the gas supply deal, Pakistan LNG said it would supply up to 150 million cubic feet per day of gas to K-Electric’s 900-megawatt BQPS-III combined cycle power plant in Port Qasim.
This deal follows a heads of agreement the duo signed last year as they secured relevant approvals, including from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).
K-Electric has previously picked Siemens to supply gas turbines for the $650 million project that will help meet Karachi’s future energy demands. The utility also said it had expected to commission both of the units at the power plant by the end of 2021.
Pakistan has been steadily increasing its LNG imports over the years and the country plans to build several more terminals to cope with gas shortages for power generation.
Port Qasim currently hosts two LNG import facilities both utilizing floating storage and regasification units.
The country’s first terminal started operations back in 2015 utilizing Exclerate’s FSRU while the second floating LNG import facility uses FSRU BW integrity.
Pakistan imported 7.42 million tonnes of the fuel last year, a drop of 8.5 percent year-on-year due to mainly Covid lockdown measures, GIIGNL data shows.
Qatar is the largest supplier of LNG to Pakistan but the country also receives chilled fuel from other Middle East producers and suppliers from other regions.
