Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) allocates B20bn for LNG terminal in Rayong
State-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has joined hands with national oil and gas conglomerate PTT to co-invest in a second liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal project in Rayong as part of new gas supply management.
Egat expects to spend 20 billion baht in capital expense for the investment, said Egat governor Boonyanit Wongrukmit.
Egat and PTT recently signed a memorandum of understanding on co-development of the new facility, with a storage capacity of 7.5 million tonnes per year, in Rayong’s Nong Fab.
The joint venture is scheduled for completion in the third quarter next year.
The Nong Fab project was initiated by PTT, which also owns a LNG receiving terminal in Map Ta Phut.
The 38.5-billion-baht Nong Fab facility began construction in March 2019. It is scheduled to start operation in 2022.
The National Energy Policy Council (NEPC) wants Egat to invest 50% in the project instead of building a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) in the upper part of the Gulf of Thailand, Mr Boonyanit said.
The FSRU was meant to supply gas to projects at Bang Pakong Power Plant and South Bangkok Power Plant.
However, the NEPC decided to scrap the FSRU project because it is less commercially viable than the FSRU project in the lower part of the Gulf of Thailand, meant to feed gas to a new Egat-run power plant in Surat Thani’s Phunphin district, said an energy official earlier who requested anonymity.
The joint LNG receiving terminal follows NEPC’s decision in April to have Egat and PTT serve as key agencies to drive the government’s plan to make Thailand a regional LNG trade hub, according to Mr Boonyanit.
To achieve that goal, the NEPC allowed Egat and other energy firms to apply for LNG import licences so to access the LNG shipping supply chain.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2143395/egat-allocates-b20bn-for-lng-terminal
