New Providence Gas (NPG), a joint venture between Shell Bahamas Power Company (Shell) and Sun Oil, a subsidiary of FOCOL Holdings, has chosen PX Group, a portfolio company of Ara Partners, to handle operations and maintenance at a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import and regasification terminal under construction in The Bahamas.
PX has been appointed by New Providence Gas as the operations and maintenance partner for the LNG terminal under development at Clifton Pier in New Providence, The Bahamas. This multi-year agreement covers commissioning, operational readiness and long-term operations and maintenance at the Clifton Pier facility.
The appointment expands PX’s presence in the Americas, adding what the company describes as a strategically important LNG asset to its international operations portfolio. The terminal is being developed to receive, store and regasify LNG for delivery as natural gas to power-generation facilities on New Providence.
According to the firm, the project is intended to support greater fuel diversity, improved energy security and a lower-emissions alternative to the fuel oil and diesel currently used for much of the island’s electricity generation.
Geoff Holmes , Chief Executive Officer of PX Group, commented: “This appointment represents an important step in PX Group’s continued growth across the Americas. Our role begins before start-up, with preparing the facility, its systems and its operating organisation for safe and reliable service.
“We will then carry that responsibility into long-term operations, bringing the experience and operational discipline PX has developed across critical energy and industrial infrastructure.”
PX Bahamas has been established as a locally incorporated operating company that will build and manage the team responsible for the terminal’s day-to-day operation and maintenance to deliver the required contract scope.
While a plant manager is already based in New Providence, the newly established affiliate expects to recruit Bahamian operators, technicians and other skilled professionals as the project moves towards commissioning and start-up.
Dexter Adderley , President and Chief Executive Officer of FOCOL Holdings, highlighted: “The strength of this project will ultimately be measured by how safely, reliably and consistently the terminal operates.
‘PX Group brings the experience required to help carry the facility from commissioning into long-term operation, and we value its commitment to building PX Bahamas around skilled Bahamian professionals. That combination of international operating expertise and local capability is essential to the lasting success of New Providence Gas.”
PX’s subsidiary will also establish the operational procedures, safety systems and technical capabilities required to support the terminal’s performance over the long term. The project enables a long-term operating presence for the firm in The Bahamas.
“The New Providence Gas appointment builds on PX Group’s expanding work across North America and the Caribbean, where the company supports asset owners and developers through commissioning, start-up, operational readiness, operations and maintenance, engineering and asset-management services,” emphasized Ara Partners’ firm.
This appointment comes shortly after ECOnnect Energy inked a charter agreement to deploy its La Santa Maria IQuay C-Class floating LNG infrastructure to the Caribbean nation with New Providence Gas, following Shell’s investment decision encompassing the acquisition of a 40% interest in NPG, which will construct, own, and operate a small-scale LNG regasification terminal at Clifton Pier.