ENGIE, AES to Expand LNG Partnership to Central America

ENGIE and The AES Corporation have agreed to enter into a joint venture to market and sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) to third parties in Central America.

The joint venture will utilize the Costa Norte LNG terminal currently under construction in Colón, Panama, which is owned 50/50 by AES and Inversiones Bahía. The total capacity of the Costa Norte LNG terminal is approximately 1.5 million metric tons per annum (mtpa), of which 25 percent will be used for the 380 MW AES Colón CCGT currently under construction on the same site. ENGIE will supply up to 0.4 mtpa of LNG to the CCGT beginning in 2018. The remaining terminal capacity is primarily available for the joint venture to market and sell to third parties, including up to 0.7 mtpa of LNG sourced from ENGIE mainly through the Cameron gas liquefaction project in the U.S.

This joint venture follows a joint marketing agreement signed by ENGIE and AES late last year, whereby both groups agreed to jointly market LNG in the Caribbean, from AES’ Andres regasification facility in the Dominican Republic. The combined regasification capacity of Andres in the Dominican Republic and Costa Norte in Panamá is approximately 3 mtpa.

The new agreement will pave the way for ENGIE and AES to supply LNG to industrial customers, develop small scale demand and provide bunkering services.