Taiwan is looking into building a national fleet of up to 16 new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.
The country is boosting the use of LNG to fuel its power plants as it looks to phase out nuclear power by 2025 and reduce the use of coal.
Taiwan’s LNG imports are currently being transported by chartered vessels.
In order to cater to the increasing demand for LNG and to better control its shipping capacity, Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau says that the country needs to develop its national fleet of LNG carriers.
MOTB said this could include the construction of up to 16 LNG carriers, according to several local media reports citing a statement by the bureau.
The bureau is considering including the transportation of imported LNG into the national ship’s implementation project to encourage domestic shipping companies to build LNG carriers, the reports said.
An announcement regarding the development is expected later this year, the reports said.
State-owned CPC Corp currently operates two LNG import facilities, namely Taichung and the Yung-An facility in Kaohsiung, but it is also building a third plant in Taoyuan.
The firm mainly imports LNG from Qatar, Australia, Russia, and the US. Last year, it signed a new 15-year deal with QatarEnergy and started importing LNG under a long-term contract with US LNG player Cheniere.
Besides CPC, Taipower is working on Taiwan’s first LNG receiving and regasification facility not owned by CPC.
