FGEN asks 3 firms to submit bids for FSRU
By Lenie Lectura – October 21, 2020
from Business Mirror
File photo: First Gen’s natural gas power plants in Batangas
FGEN LNG Corp. (FGEN LNG), a wholly owned subsidiary of First Gen Corp. (First Gen), has formally issued a request to tender for a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) to 3 interested bidders.
It said Wednesday that it issued a Binding Invitation to Tender (BITT) to 3 preferred tenderers: BW Gas Limited, GasLog LNG Services Ltd., and Hoegh LNG Asia Pte Ltd.
All 3 completed a non-binding pre-qualification process, following FGEN LNG’s receipt of a Permit to Construct, Expand, Rehabilitate and Modify (PCERM) from the Department of Energy (DOE).
“BW Gas Limited, GasLog LNG Services Ltd., and Hoegh LNG Asia Pte Ltd, are all very experienced players in the international LNG industry and we are delighted that they have expressed such keen interest in providing a suitable FSRU for the benefit of the Project and the Philippines.
We expect that it will be a difficult choice but the BITT process is designed to enable FGEN LNG to select the FSRU supplier and FSRU best suited to meet the needs of the project in order to deliver a safe, reliable and competitive supply of LNG to our customers,” said Jonathan C. Russell, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of First Gen.
The BITT was issued to FGEN LNG’s Interim Offshore LNG Terminal (IOT) project that will allow FGEN LNG to accelerate its ability to introduce LNG to the Philippines as early as the third quarter of 2022, to serve the natural gas requirements of existing and future gas-fired power plants of third parties and FGEN LNG affiliates.
An FSRU is a Liquefied Natural Gas Carrier (LNGC) that is capable of storing LNG and which has an onboard regasification plant capable of returning LNG into a gaseous state and then supplying it directly into the gas network.
The IOT will be built at the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas City. It consists of construction works necessary to modify the existing jetty that will enable it to become a multi-purpose jetty and build an adjunct onshore gas receiving facility.
The company has tapped McConnell Dowell Philippines as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for its IOT project.
Once FGEN LNG’s preparations for the commencement of construction of the IOT project are complete, including the design and implementation of enhanced work and safety protocols and procedures required to minimize the impact of Covid-19 on construction personnel and the local community, construction may begin within the last quarter of the year.
Earlier, First Gen signed and Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. signed a Joint Cooperation Agreement (JCA) to jointly pursue the design, development, testing, commissioning, construction, ownership and operations and maintenance of the IOT project.
Under the JCA, Tokyo Gas will have a 20 percent participating interest in the IOT project and provide support in development, construction, operations and maintenance work to achieve a Final Investment Decision (FID).
Upon reaching FID under the JCA, the parties will enter into a Definitive Agreement in respect the IOT project.
The FGEN Batangas LNG Terminal was previously declared by the Energy Investment Coordinating Council through the DOE as an Energy Project of National Significance under Executive Order 30.
