State-owned importer Pakistan LNG said it has signed a heads of agreement to supply chilled fuel to compatriot private power utility Karachi Electric.
Under the deal, Pakistan LNG will supply up to 150 million cubic feet per day of gas to KE’s 900-megawatt BQPS-III combined cycle power plant in Port Qasim.
Furthermore, K-Electric plans to launch the plant’s first unit in March 2021 followed by the second in November the same year.
The power firm previously picked Siemens to supply gas turbines for the $650 million project that will help meet Karachi’s future energy demands.
The new heads of agreement with Pakistan LNG will be followed by a binding supply agreement later this year or in the beginning of the next.
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.
The 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 8.10 million tonnes of the fuel last year, a rise of 18.1 percent on year, 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.