The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said it has structured a $128.3 million package to finance a floating storage and regasification unit to be installed in El Salvador.
The financial package has a 15-year tenor and consists of a $85.8 million loan from IDB Invest, a part of the IDB Group, and a $42.5 million loan from the Chinese Co-financing Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean, the bank said in a statement.
In addition, the duo provided the loan to FSRU Ltda. de CV in El Salvador.
To remind, Keppel’s Singapore shipyard is currently converting a 2002-built LNG carrier to an FSRU for a joint venture consisting of BW’s LNG unit and US-based Invenergy.
BW secured Shell’s 135,000-cbm carrier Gallina for the project renaming it to BW Tatiana.
Following completion this year, the FSRU will depart to the Port of Acajutla in El Salvador.
The vessel will sit 1.2 km offshore the Port of Acajutla in the department of Sonsonate.
There, it will provide fuel to the integrated project that includes a 378-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant. IDB has also granted a loan of $60 million for the construction of the plant.
The project developed by Inverengy’s Energía del Pacífico will become El Salvador’s first LNG-to-power project.
“By supplying LNG as an input for the plant, the project will help diversify El Salvador’s energy matrix, reduce reliance on heavy fuel oil, and also reduce dependence of electricity imports from the region,” IDB said in the statement.
