26 June 2018, London — Hong Kong is close to securing a long-term lease for the world’s biggest floating liquefied natural Gas (LNG) import terminal as it seeks to produce half its electricity from gas by 2020.
Shipping firm Mitsui OSK Lines on Monday said it struck a preliminary deal to supply the MOL FSRU Challenger from late 2020 for the Hong Kong Offshore LNG Terminal Project.
The 263,000-cubic-metre-capacity vessel is currently deployed in Turkey.
A decision to proceed with the LNG terminal project is expected soon. Royal Dutch Shell is a front-runner to supply Hong Kong utility CLP Power with 1.2 million tonnes of LNG annually for 10 years.
CLP Power is building a new gas-fired generation unit at its Black Point Power station at a cost of HK$5.5 billion ($701 million) which will start operations by 2020, according to the company’s 2017 annual report.
Hong Kong currently produces power using imported fuel in domestic power plants or from natural gas from the mainland. The country’s coal-fired plants are expected to reach the end of their useful life in the next decade.
- Reuters
