The JPS power plant in Old Harbour
In an update last week on the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) website American LNG— associate company of New Fortress Energy – said there were likely to be delays at its planned US$250-million onshore LNG export facility at Titusville, Florida. Operations will likely begin in 2017, not in April 2016 as projected before.
American LNG is controlled by Fortress Equity Partners, which is also the parent of New Fortress Energy.
New Fortress Energy won out of a field of eight bidders to provide a long-term natural gas solution for JPS power plants, starting with Bogue in Montego Bay.
In March this year, New Fortress also secured the contract to supply gas to the planned Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSco) Ltd 190MW power plant in Old Harbour, St Catherine.
American LNG, on March 7 committed to supply New Energy with up to 2.26 Bcf/year (billion cubic feet per year).
Overall, American LNG received approval in 2015 to export up to 600,000 mt/year of LNG (approximately 30.2 Bcf/year regasified) in ISO containers to countries with which the US has free-trade agreements.
Now it said that developments at its Titusville facility indicated a likely commercial operation date in 2017 instead of April 2016.
Efforts by the Jamaica Observer to find out from New Fortress how this would affect plans for Bogue were not answered up to press time.
New Fortress last year signed the supply accord with JPSCo to provide LNG for the power company’s 120-MW Bogue power plant at Montego Bay. To this has been added Old Harbour.
The 190MW gas-fired plant is intended to replace 292 megawatts of Heavy Fuel Oil Power Plants in Old Harbour and Hunts Bay which are being phased out.
American LNG told the Department of Energy that it is now producing LNG from its Hialeah facility near Miami from which the first export of LNG occurred February 5.
Natural gas for the facility is supplied by Peninsula Energy Services Co to an affiliate of American LNG.
The project has approval to export LNG in ISO containers to non-free trade agreement nations.
In March, LNG World news online reported that American LNG made the first export from the facility on February 5, 2016.