Lopez-led First Gen Corp entered a partnership with Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the hopes of providing the country a clean natural gas to produce power.
The two firms signed a Joint Development Agreement to continue the development of FGEn’s LNG terminal project, which will be developed by FGen’s unit FGEN LNG Corp. Tokyo Gas will take a 20 percent participating interest in the said development project. It is also expected to give support in development work in order to reach a Final Investment Decision.
The parties will enter into a definitive agreement to proceed with the construction of the FGEN LNG Project once they secure the FID under the JDA.
The LNG terminal will be located inside the Lopez Group’s clean-energy complex which also houses its other gas plants.
First Gen and Tokyo Gas both believe that the Philippines needs clean natural gas to produce power, which is the perfect complement to a growing renewable energy industry in spite of it not being cost-competitive.
“We both share the vision of the Department of Energy in the implementation of LNG projects in the Philippines. First Gen and Tokyo Gas intend to cooperate with all relevant stakeholders who share the same vision to participate in making LNG viable for the Philippines,” First Gen President Giles B. Puno was quoted in Business Mirror report.
First Gen is the leading as power generation firm in the Philippines. Their portfolio consists of 2,000 MW operating gas assets with 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.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Gas is a leading LNG player with 50 years of experience in the LNG industry. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, it has 63,000 kilometers of gas pipelines providing to more than 11 million customers.
“Tokyo Gas is pleased and delighted to have signed the agreement with First Gen, the leading company utilizing environmentally friendly natural gas in the Philippines, and which has been contributing to realize a low-carbon society. Tokyo Gas would like to be instrumental in introducing LNG to the Philippines by pursuing the FGEN LNG Project and developing a safe and stable energy infrastructure system, taking advantage of its LNG expertise accumulated for half a century,” Takashi Uchida, president of Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd told Business Mirror reporters.
The Philippine government has already said that LNG is an important national infrastructure in order to maintain and improve the country’s energy security once the Malampaya gas field is eventually depleted.