Cabot Corp. unit Cabot LNG LLC, Boston, reported Tuesday it made the first delivery of LNG to Puerto Rico�s first independent power plant and LNG receiving terminal, the EcoEl�rica facility, under a 20-year agreement.
Located on the southern shore near the city of Ponce, the new 507 Mw natural gas-fired power plant is designed to generate as much as 20% of Puerto Rico�s electricity demand. The complex includes the power plant, a state-of-the-art LNG import terminal with 3.6 bcf of storage, and a desalination plant.
"We�re very pleased to be establishing this new port of call," said Cabot LNG CEO Gordon Shearer. �At the same time we�re bringing the first natural gas to Puerto Rico, we�re expanding our presence within the Atlantic Basin LNG marketplace, representing another important milestone in the evolution of our business."
During the past 1� years, a confluence of events has buoyed Cabot LNG�s competitive position, the company says. In the winter of 1998-99, the company reactivated the LNG carrier, Matthew, to meet increased demand for gas in the US Northeast. The vessel will also be used to delivery gas to Puerto Rico. The LNG bound for EcoEl�rica will be transported primarily from Trinidad.
In the spring of 1999, Cabot LNG began receiving LNG deliveries from the Atlantic LNG export facility in Trinidad, contracting for about 240 MMcfd of LNG, equivalent to 60% of the plant�s design capacity. And in early 2000, Cabot LNG reported a multibillion-dollar gas sales and purchase agreement with Sithe Energies Inc., under which a Cabot LNG subsidiary will be the principal supplier of natural gas to fuel Sithe�s Mystic Station, a 1,600-Mw power plant under construction in Everett, Mass.
