Agreements advance plans for FSRU off Puerto Rico

April 9, 2014
Excelerate Energy, Houston, and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) have executed agreements for the procurement, construction, and operation of the Aguirre Offshore GasPort LNG terminal off the southern coast of the country, the company reported.

Excelerate Energy, Houston, and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) have executed agreements for the procurement, construction, and operation of the Aguirre Offshore GasPort LNG terminal off the southern coast of the country, the company reported.

The agreements include the provision of one of Excelerate’s floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) specifically designed to provide closed-loop regasification, together with the design, construction, and operation of an offshore terminal for berthing the FSRU and the reception and transfer of LNG from carriers of various sizes.

The terminal, off Puerto Rico’s southern coast near the town of Salinas, would provide fuel to the Aguirre central complex and underpin the conversion of power generation from imported oil to natural gas.

The Central Aguirre Power Complex will convert 900 Mw of existing power generation to be dual-fueled, capable of using No. 2 diesel or natural gas or both as primary fuel (OGJ Online, Apr. 19, 2013).

The project is in the approval process in the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Excelerate expects it to receive its draft environmental impact statement next month. Pending FERC approval, Excelerate said, construction could begin in this year’s fourth quarter.