Australian Industrial Energy (AIE) has let a contract to Norwegian group Hoegh LNG to provide the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) for its planned LNG import terminal at Port Kembla on the New South Wales coast south of Sydney.
AIE and Hoegh have signed an exclusivity agreement whereby AIE has the right to lease one of Hoegh’s state-of-the-art 300-m, 170,000-cu m capacity FSRUs for the project that proposes to supply imported gas to Australian east coast industrial customers from the first quarter of 2020.
The FSRU is to be permanently moored at Berth 101 in Port Kembla’s inner harbor for the duration of the time charter party contract.
The FSRU will regasify LNG that can then be injected into a pipeline from the berth to the existing east coast gas transmission network that lies about 10 km away.
AIE says the FSRU will form part of the final port infrastructure design plans that will also address the New South Wales government’s planning assessment and development approval requirements, which were provided to AIE last week.
AIE was formed in 2017 by a consortium comprising Squadron Energy, which is led by Australian industrialist Andrew Forrest, major Japanese trading and investment group Marubeni Corp., and Japan’s JERA Co.
Hoegh is a worldwide owner and operator of floating LNG import terminals, FSRUs, and LNG carriers.