Hoegh FSRU Chartered by Ghana LNG Project No.2
Norway-based shipowner Hoegh LNG said it signed on 1 December 2016 a contract with Quantum Power for the charter of a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) for the latter’s Tema LNG import terminal project, near Accra in Ghana
The contract is for a period of 20 years with a five-year extension option for the charterer and is expected to generate average annual earnings (Ebitda) of around $36mn. Hoegh said the Tema LNG project is supported by state Ghana National Petroleum Corporation.
The contract is subject to Quantum Power obtaining necessary governmental approvals, financial close and both parties' board approval, said Hoegh.
These are no trivial points, as a Golar-owned FSRU that had been expected to be Ghana’s – indeed West Africa’s – first LNG import terminal has been mired in a commercial wrangle for six months now. That's because its charterer (WAGP) did not secure parliamentary approval for LNG imports prior to the FSRU reaching Ghana in June. Golar received its first payment from the charter only this week – an example of the potential pitfalls of operating in the region. That FSRU is still at anchor 5 km offshore and now unlikely to berth or handle LNG this year.
Hoegh LNG said for the Tema LNG project, in which it is involved: “The infrastructure construction for the project is planned to start mid-2017 and expected delivery time for the FSRU is 6 to 12 months following commencement of the construction work. The FSRU will be provided from Höegh LNG's portfolio of FSRUs, including units under construction, the planned conversion FSRU, or planned newbuilding orders.”
Hoegh LNG charters out FSRUs around the world to companies; this one is deployed in Tianjin, China (Photo credit: Hoegh LNG)
Sveinung JS Stohle, Hoegh LNG’s CEO, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded the contract with Quantum Power for their new LNG import terminal in Ghana and look forward to completing the project together with our client.”
Quantum Power CEO, Matty Vengerik, added "This is the first such project to be implemented in sub-Saharan Africa.” Total made a similar claim for a Cote d’Ivoire LNG import project in which it is involved that it hopes will enter service in 2018, once it takes final investment decision early in 2017.
On June 5, Ghana-based thinktank African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) described the WAGL/Golar project as technically, legally and economically less desirable than the Quantum Power/Hoegh project. However London-based Quantum Power, part of Quantum Pacific Group owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer, has few such projects of this complexity already in operation.
Mark Smedley