Jamaica to Build LNG Terminal

American company, New Fortress Energy LLC, will invest more than $200 million to build a LNG terminal in Jamaica.

The terminal is expected to supply over 200,000 tons of LNG to the country’s 190MW Old Harbour gas fired power plant annually. 

New Fortress was chosen by the Jamaica Public Service Company above five other bidders for the project which includes expansion plans to service other Caribbean nations as well.

The new terminal is expected to be commissioned by 2018.

Earlier this year, New Fortress agreed to supply LNG for Jamaica’s 120MW power plant at Bogue in St. James. The plant is being converted to run on gas as well as automotive diesel oil.

The Port Authority of Jamaica confirmed last week that the Port of Montego Bay will be ready to accept shipments of LNG for the Bogue Gas Conversion Project.

The project is scheduled to be completed by the second quarter of 2016 and will involve the shipment of LNG from Fort Lauderdale in the United States to the Port of Montego Bay.

According to the Jamaica Observer, Vice-President for Business Development at the authority, Edmond Marsh, said: “One of the first activities we will be doing is to ensure that we provide a new berth [as] the berth is shared with cruise shipping and many times cruise ships have to get priority. For that reason, we have moved forward with the development of a new berth to facilitate the offloading of the cargo.” 

Jamaica is introducing natural gas into the country’s energy mix as it is currently overly-dependent on high-cost oil-based fuel for electricity generation.