New Fortress commissions Brazilian LNG import terminal [UPDATE]
New Fortress Energy (NFE) said February 29 it had commissioned its 6mn tonnes/year Barcarena LNG terminal in Para, Brazil and expects to begin immediate deliveries of natural gas from the terminal to Norsk Hydro’s Alunorte alumina refinery.
With the Energos Celsius floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) on-site, the Barcarena LNG terminal, at the mouth of the Amazon River, serves as the sole natural gas supply source in the state of Para and for the north region of Brazil.
In addition to serving the Alunorte refinery under a 15-year contract – which will reduce the refinery’s CO2 emissions by an estimated 700,000 tonnes/year – Barcarena LNG will supply LNG to several industrial customers and a 630 MW power plant NFE is building adjacent to the terminal.
That facility is about 50% complete, NFE said, and remains on track to reach commercial operations in Q3 2025. NFE is also working to expand the Barcarena power complex to 1.6 GW, with commercial operations expected by July 2026.
“Our Barcarena complex is a great example of NFE’s fully integrated LNG-to-power business model, where our LNG import terminal provides a significant competitive advantage,” New Fortress CEO Wes Edens said.
Barcarena LNG is the second import terminal commissioned by NFE this year. Commercial operations also began this month at Terminal Gas Sul near Santa Catarina, southwest of Sao Paulo, NFE said in announcing its quarterly results. Terminal Gas Sul is also a 6mn tonnes/year facility, supported by the Energos Winter FSRU and connected through a 33 km pipeline to the Transportadora Brasileira Gasoduto Bolivia-Brasil pipeline to more than 3.5 GW of power that does not have firm, long-term gas supply contracts.
“TGS is directly connected to more than 3.5 GW of existing power infrastructure that lacks firm supply agreements, making the terminal a key asset in Brazil’s evolving energy landscape,” Edens said. “With numerous new power projects required to balance the grid in Brazil in the near term, NFE is poised to meet growing demand by leveraging its vertically integrated portfolio of LNG assets and expertise.”
NFE reported net income in Q4 2023 of $214.9mn, up from Q3 2023 net income of $62.3mn. Adjusted EBITDA increased sequentially to $387.6mn from $208.4mn.
“This year was a record by all of our reported metrics and importantly, during the second half of the year, there was no profit from cargo sales recorded,” Edens said. “In other words, all of our performance was a result of downstream operating results. This is a major change in the company’s performance, and a significant and meaningful improvement in both the quality and quantity of our results.”