BW gallina FSRU modul construction start

Work starts on El Salvador’s first LNG FSRU

Work has started on a regasification module that will be installed onboard El Salvador’s first floating and regasification unit.

Courtesy of BW LNG
BW gallina FSRU modul construction start
Image courtesy of BW LNG

Once completed, the Wartsila module will be installed onboard Shell’s 2002-built LNG carrier Gallina that will be converted to an FSRU.

A steel cutting ceremony to mark the start of the module construction was held at China’s COSCO yard on Tuesday, according to BW LNG, a unit of the Singapore-based gas shipping company BW Group.

BW LNG signed a contract last year for the provision of an FSRU with U.S.-based private energy company Invenergy that is developing El Salvador’s first LNG-to-power project.

Inverengy is the main shareholder of Energía del Pacífico, the company behind the LNG-to-power project currently under construction at the Port of Acajutla.

The Hague-based energy giant Shell will supply LNG to the project under a long-term deal signed with Energía del Pacífico.

Besides the floating LNG import facility, the project includes the construction of a 378-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant and an approximately 44-kilometer electric transmission.

The project, expected to be able to meet 30 per cent of El Salvador’s energy demand, is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2021.