Eagle LNG, WEB Aruba sign agreement on LNG terminal construction

US-based Eagle LNG Partners has struck an agreement with WEB Aruba, the national water and power provider of Aruba, on the construction of an LNG regasification terminal at the site of an existing oil refinery in San Nicolas.

Eagle LNG, which is owned by the private equity firm Energy & Minerals Group, announced the deal in a statement last week. It said the parties had signed documents outlining their plans for long-term co-operation at a ceremony on December 9. That ceremony was attended by Aruba’s Minister of Labour, Energy and Integration Glenbert Croes and WEB Aruba’s CEO Serapio Wever, the statement noted.

The agreement provides for the parties to work together to build an LNG import and regasification facility at the Refineria di Aruba (RdA) plant, which has been idle for some time. Neither Eagle LNG nor WEB Aruba has revealed the projected capacity of this terminal. However, the US company has signed a long-term LNG supply contract, and the island state’s utility has indicated that it will use the regasified LNG as fuel for the Balashi thermal power plant (TPP).

The cost of building the new facility is expected to reach $100mn, and the project is likely to create about 100 new jobs during the construction phase, Eagle LNG said. It will also allow for the creation of permanent and “highly skilled operating jobs with specialised training in critical capabilities required as the world transitions to a net-zero carbon future,” the company added.

The statement explained that the project was designed to help Aruba reduce its carbon emissions by allowing the TPP’s dual-fuel engines to switch from the petroleum products that are its current main sources of fuel to cleaner-burning natural gas. “The project will introduce low-cost, stable energy to the island and enhance its environmental credentials,” it said. Moving to LNG from heavy residual fuel oil and diesel will cut harmful emissions by 30% for carbon dioxide, by 75% for nitrogen oxides, by 90% for particulates and by 99% for sulphur dioxide, it added.

Sean Lalani, the president of Eagle LNG, described the deal as beneficial for Aruba, for the Caribbean region as a whole and for his company in particular. “We are committed to investing in the Caribbean basin and are honoured to have signed an agreement for another major LNG project, this time in Aruba. Together with recent agreements elsewhere in the Caribbean basin, including the new terminal in Antigua, this further confirms Eagle LNG as the reliable partner of choice for natural gas in the region. The LNG import terminal will result in more environmentally responsible energy supporting the addition of more renewable generation, lower operating and maintenance costs and a stable, historically low-cost, fuel supply. Alongside the economic and environmental benefits, the transition to LNG-powered generation will function as a catalyst for new economic pillars in Aruba. We look forward to being a part of Aruba for many years.”

Croes, meanwhile, stressed the environmental and economic advantages of the deal for Aruba’s citizens. “This is an extremely important project for an Aruba that loves its environment, which will produce energy based upon clean energy that will reduce costs of water and electricity to the benefit of all of Aruba,” he said at the signing ceremony.