First Gen Set to Build LNG Terminal

By Aiswarya Lakshmi September 28, 2015

First Gen Corp. hopes to secure a partner for its planned $1-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Batangas this year as the company gears up for the project’s construction phase in 2016, reports local media.

The Lopez-controlled company is currently in talks with possible partners, according to First Gen President and Chief Operating Officer Francis Giles B. Puno.

“We hope to announce a partner by the end of the year. It could be multiple partners, both local and foreign. We are talking to a number of them,” he said.

After securing a partner, First Gen will start site preparation early next year and then bid out the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract, Puno said.

“We will start bidding out the EPC next year. We’d like to have a partner before yearend,” said Puno.

Puno earlier said First Gen is willing to share the bulk of the project with a partner or partners on condition that First Gen will keep 50 percent.

First Gen plans to have the terminal up and running by 2021, before the Malampaya natural gas field runs dry in 2024 according to estimates.

First Gen is the largest Philippine operator of gas-fired power plants in the country.