Barcarena LNG Terminal, Brazil

Barcarena LNG Terminal is located at the mouth of the Amazon River in the state of Pará, Brazil.

The facility, which commenced operations in February 2024, serves as the only source natural gas supply in the region.

The 6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) (300 trillion British thermal units (TBtu)) facility helps in distributing LNG and natural gas in the north and northeast regions of Brazil, thereby benefitting a combined population of approximately 75 million.

US-based energy infrastructure company New Fortress Energy (NFE) owns and operates Barcarena terminal. The company is also constructing a 630MW power plant adjacent to the terminal.

NFE became the owner of the terminal following its acquisition of Hygo Energy Transition, a 50-50 joint venture between Golar LNG and a fund managed by Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, in April 2021.

Barcarena LNG Terminal Details

Located in Pará, Brazil, Barcarena LNG Terminal will help in bringing cleaner energy to the Amazon River basin by replacing oil-based fuels.

The project infrastructure includes an offshore terminal, and the Energos Celsius Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) on-site along with associated infrastructure, including mooring and offshore and onshore pipelines.

The Barcarena terminal can process up to 790,000 MMBtu/d (million British Thermal Units per day) and store up to 170,000 cubic metres of LNG.

It will supply LNG to several industrial customers, including Norsk Hydro’s Alunorte refinery. The project will also supply natural gas to the under-construction adjacent power plant.

It is estimated that the Barcarena Terminal to utilise approximately 92,000 MMBtu/d, which represents around 12% of the facility’s maximum regasification capacity, to service the power plant.

Energos Celsius FSRU Details

The vessel, Energos Celsius, was converted from an LNG carrier to a FSRU for deployment at NFE’s LNG terminal in Barcarena.

FSRU Energos Celsius is designed with a nominal regasification capacity of 750 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd), up to a maximum capacity of 1,000 mmscfd.

The FSRU is on long-term charter to NFE.

Offtake Agreements

In April 2021, NFE signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to supply natural gas to Norsk Hydro’s Alunorte Alumina Refinery for a period of 15 years.

Under the agreement, NFE will supply the alumina production facility with nearly 30 TBtu of natural gas annually.

The use of natural gas will trim the refinery’s annual carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 700,000 tonnes per annum. This will help Norsk Hydro in achieving its global commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030.

According to NFE, Barcarena LNG terminal will supply LNG to more than 2,200MW worth of power capacity owned by the company.

Contractors Involved

In December 2023, Energos Celsius FSRU was delivered by Seatrium, which provides engineering solutions to the global offshore, marine and energy industries. This was Seatrium’s fourth FSRU project for Brazil.

The vessel, owned by Energos Infrastructure, is on long-term charter to NFE.

In April 2024, NFE awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to a consortium of Mitsubishi Power Americas and Andrade Gutierrez for the power plant to be developed adjacent to the Barcarena LNG terminal.

The power plant is expected to begin operations in Q3 2025.

NFE’s footprint in Brazil

In January 2021, New Fortress Energy (NFE) entered into definitive agreements to acquire Hygo Energy Transition and Golar LNG Partners (GMLP).

The Hygo transaction carried a $3.1bn enterprise value and a $2.18bn equity value, while GMLP deal had a $1.9bn enterprise value and $251m common equity value.

The two transactions, which completed in April 2021, made NFE one of the leading gas-to-power companies in Brazil.

According to the company, NFE has four new LNG terminals in Brazil. These are Barcarena, Sergipe LNG terminal, one facility next to Suape, and Terminal Gas Sul LNG Terminal in Santa Catarina.

Under the GMLP transaction, NFE added a fleet of seven FSRUs and six LNG carriers among other assets.