Japanese giant to build First Gen’s LNG hub

First Gen Corp. has picked JGC Corp. of Japan for the engineering, procurement and construction of its $1-billion liquefied natural gas terminal in Batangas, a joint venture with Tokyo Gas Corp.

This was announced Monday, three months after a ceremonial groundbreaking held at the First Gen Clean Energy Complex (FGCEC), which straddles the barangays of Sta. Clara, Sta. Rita Aplaya and Bolbok in Batangas City.

The company said JGC was chosen from among 22 companies invited to take part in a process that began in 2014.

According to First Gen, JGC has been responsible for constructing LNG plants that altogether represent 30 percent of global LNG production.

“We look forward to working with JGC to make this Energy Project of National Significance a success, as (it) is crucial to ensure the continued operations of the 3,200 megawatts existing natural gas-fired plants given the expected and continuing reduction in gas supply from the Malampaya field up to the expiration of the contracts by 2024,” First Gen chief commercial officer Jonathan Russell said in a statement.

The First Gen group alone operates four gas-fed power plants with an aggregate capacity of more than 2,000 megawatts—the 1,000-MW Santa Rita, 500-MW San Lorenzo, 414-MW San Gabriel and 97-MW Avion, all of which sit adjacent to the LNG project site.

There is also the 1,200-MW Ilijan power plant, also located in Batangas and operated and managed by the San Miguel group under contract with the government.

The availability of LNG through an import terminal is expected to pave the way for new gas-fired power plant projects and downstream businesses catering to commercial and household uses.

Russel, who is also executive vice president at First Gen, said the company would work with JGC to explore the possibility of modifying and enabling an existing jetty to bring in LNG via a floating storage regasification unit, on an interim basis, before July 2022.

He said that, if realized, this would reduce the strain on Malampaya as its reliability continued to decline.