TOKYO: Japanese engineering group JGC Holdings has won its second order to build a floating liquefied natural gas production base for Malaysian state-run energy company Petronas as demand for LNG grows worldwide.
JGC will partner with Samsung Heavy Industries for the project in the eastern state of Sabah, with completion planned for 2027. The platform is expected to be one of the largest of its kind in the world.
Floating LNG facilities — which produce LNG from natural gas and transfer it to carriers for shipping — offer a mobility advantage that their onshore counterparts lack. The platforms can be moved from gas field to gas field as needed, depending on output.
JGC Corp will be responsible for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the production system, whose annual output will exceed two million tonnes. The order is estimated to be worth more than ¥100 billion (US$753 million) for JGC.
Samsung Heavy will be the EPC provider for the vessel supporting the production system.
JGC won its first floating LNG plant project from Petronas in 2014. A Mozambique project awarded in 2017 began LNG shipments this November. JGC won a similar order in Nigeria this year.
LNG production is expected to rise worldwide as buyers of the fuel seek to diversify their suppliers after the shock of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. LNG demand was already rising as an alternative to coal, which emits more carbon dioxide when burned.
JGC Holdings has received about ¥600 billion in orders for the fiscal year through this coming March. The latest order brings it a step closer to meeting its ¥840 billion target for that year.
