The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Senator Ryan Pinder said a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal will be a joint venture between FOCOL and Shell, with construction of the first and second phase to amount to just under $200m.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Mr Pinder said the construction and capitalisation of the terminal will be a joint venture between FOCOL and Shell and will include the regassification and storage facility. 

He said the government will purchase the fuel via a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and it will then be resold to other power generators. 

“With respect to the purchaser of the fuel itself, it will be a government owned special purpose vehicle that will be responsible for purchasing the fuel from Shell and then reselling it to the different power generators,” said Mr Pinder. 

“We signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the FOCOL subsidiary [Bahamas Utilities Holdings] earlier this year, those engines will be transformed into natural gas to be able to burn natural gas. And also, BPL will have engines that will burn natural gas, and so that SPV would on sell the gas to all of the respective generated entities that are burning gas.”

Mr Pinder said the terminal is expected to be producing enough natural gas to cover BPL’s base load within the next 18 months. 

The terminal will be constructed in phases, with the first phase expected to be completed and receiving the first shipment of natural gas by November 1.  

“The terminal is going to be constructed in phases. The initial phase would be a smaller vessel that Shell provide we are looking to have first gas in the country no later than November 1 of this year, that will be with a terminal in place,” said Mr Pinder. 

“And then, as we scale up with new generation units, and as we develop the terminal into phases two and three, the terminal will grow, and the amount of gas that will be able to be offloaded and will increase. That will be a time process that’s still a bit fluid, but we certainly hope to have full gas pumping to The Bahamas in Nassau, up to 190 megawatts worth, which will cover the entire base load of BPL within 18 months.”

For the pipeline, Mr Pinder said there will be a small pipeline at Clifton Pier to supply the gas from the vessels to the storage facility and the existing diesel pipeline between Clifton and Blue Hills will be replaced. 

“There’ll be pipeline from the terminal where the gas comes on shore to the storage facility. So there’ll be a small pipeline at Clifton for that. With respect to BPL’s engines and ultimately FOCOL engines that will be located at Blue Hills,” said Mr Pinder. 

“There will be a pipeline that will follow the existing BPL wayleave between Clifton and Blue Hills, and that pipeline will replace the current diesel pipeline that’s in place now that we are having some challenges with so you’ll have a new diesel pipeline, and then you’ll have a new gas pipeline. All the environmental studies, all of the environmental impact will be done, and all of the relevant certificates of environmental clearances will be issued before that process starts, and at the end of the day, that pipeline will be owned by the government of The Bahamas.”