Invenergy confirms commercial operations at El Salvador LNG-to-power plant

Invenergy has reached commercial operations at the Energía del Pacífico (EDP) LNG-to-power project at the Port of Acajutla in El Salvador. Completion of EDP increases electric reliability and lowers emissions through natural gas supply to the Central American region, the company said in a release Oct. 20.

The project, the country's largest ever private foreign direct investment, is providing power to meet up to 30% of El Salvador's energy demand. The $1-billion project comprises a permanently moored floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), a 1.8-km subsea pipeline, a 378-Mw natural gas-fired power plant, and a 44-km electric transmission line, connecting output to the Central American Electrical Interconnection System.

Invenergy and BW LNG closed a $128.3 million package with IDB Invest to finance the FSRU component of the EDP project in May 2021. BW Tatiana, with capacity of 280 MMscfd and storage capacity of 137,000 cu m, is Central America's first FSRU (OGJ Online, May 14, 2021). In April 2022, it performed its first ship-to-ship transfer of about 125,000 cu m of LNG in Acajutla, El Salvador, with LNG tanker Bilbao Knutsen.

By shifting some power supply to natural gas, EDP reduces El Salvador's reliance on diesel and heavy fuel oil-fired power generation, offsetting 600,000 tonnes/year of CO₂ emissions, Invenergy said.