El Salvador's Acajutla transfers first vessel-to-vessel LNG batch
BW LNG said April 1 that its floating LNG vessel in El Salvador had completed its first ship-to-ship LNG transfer as part of the 280mn ft3/day Acajutla gas-to-power project.
BW LNG, a subsidiary of gas shipping company BW Group, managed the transfer of 125,000 m3 of LNG from its floating regasification and storage unit BW Tatiana to the tanker Bilbao Knutsen.
Keppel Shipyard delivered BW Tatiana, which can store up to 137,000 m3 of gas, last year under a conversion contract to repurpose an existing LNG vessel. The deal was awarded by BW Gas and project operator Invenergy Investment, the latter of which has backed the LNG plant's sole customer: Energia del Pacifico.
Energia del Pacífico will commission the floating LNG facility to supply its new 378-MW thermal power plant. The project is due to launch in coming weeks and includes a new pipeline to the site of Energia's power station, along with 44 km of transmission cables that link to El Salvador's national grid.
El Salvador has a large electricity trade deficit, having bought around 21% of its power supply from overseas markets in 2019, according to IRENA. It hopes buying in LNG could help phase out heavy fuel oil at its thermal power stations while also generating more power to sell into neighbouring central American markets. An Inter-American Development Bank subsidiary agreed to provide $128mn of financing for the project, and BW LNG says it will meet around 30% of El Salvador's power demand.