(From left to right) Prime Infra president and CEO Guillaume Lucci, chairman of Prime Infra Enrique K. Razon Jr., Federico Lopez, FirstGen chairman and CEO, Victor Emmanuel B. Santos Jr., FirstGen Executive Vice President.
FGEN LNG Corp and Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. (Prime Infra) announced today the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for the proposed lease and operation of the Liquefied Natural Gas storage and regasificaton terminal (LNG Terminal) being developed by FGEN LNG within the First Gen Clean Energy Complex in Batangas City. No definitive agreements have been signed by the parties.
The LNG Terminal has been officially certified by the Department of Energy (DOE) as an Energy Project of National Significance and granted a Certificate of Energy Project of National Significance on 5 August 2019.
The Philippine government has determined natural gas as a complementary transition fuel to support DOE’s 2020-2040 Philippine Energy Plan to ensure energy security, while enhancing the renewable energy capacity of the country.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. recently approved the Renewal Agreement for Malampaya Service Contract No. 38 (SC 38), allowing the continued production of the Malampaya gas field and ensuring that the remaining gas reserves are further explored and utilized until 22 February 2039.
The lease of the LNG Terminal will form part of Prime Infra’s proposed gas aggregation strategy that is focused on leveraging its existing Malampaya project facilities, and its expertise in the natural gas market, to ensure a reliable and lowest cost supply of clean gas at stable fuel costs to the country’s natural gas power plants.
The agreement embodies a mutual recognition by both FGEN LNG and Prime Infra of the need to ensure a steady and secure source of natural gas providing low-cost and sustainable baseload power through gas aggregation.
The aggregator enables the formation of a competitive gas market underpinned by the growth of the natural gas power generation capacity in line with DOE’s power development plan, the availability of LNG as a new fuel source, and the exploration for and commercial development of new indigenous natural gas fields, all in response to the President’s urgent call for significant undertakings to ensure national competitiveness.
FGEN LNG is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Gen, one of the biggest independent power producers in the country and the leading gas power generation company in the Philippines with approximately 2,000 MW in operating gas assets composed of four gas-fired power plants – the 1,000 MW Santa Rita Power Plant, the 500 MW San Lorenzo Power Plant, the 414 MW San Gabriel Power Plant, and the 97 MW Avion Power Plant. It is the primary power generation arm of the Lopez Group of Companies, led by its chairman, Federico R. Lopez.
Prime Infra is a leading and fast-growing sustainability-driven infrastructure arm of Filipino businessman Enrique K. Razon Jr. which is committed to providing economically enduring, environmentally resilient and socially relevant projects to address urgent priorities in three core sectors—water, sustainable energy and waste management and sustainable fuels.