São Marcos Bay FSRU

This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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São Marcos Bay FSRU is a proposed LNG Terminal in the state of Maranhão, Brazil.

Location

The São Marcos Bay terminal would be located in the Boqueirão channel, São Marcos Bay, Maranhão state, Brazil.

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Project Details

• Owner: New Fortress Energy
• Location: Boqueirão channel, São Marcos Bay, Maranhão state, Brazil
• Coordinates: -2.550981, -44.378683 (approximate)
• Capacity: 21 million cubic metres per day (Mm3/day)
• Status: Proposed
• Type: Import
• Start Year:
• Financing:

Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day

Background

The proposed terminal would be an FSRU (floating storage and regasification unit) located in São Marcos Bay, Maranhão state, Brazil. It would supply natural gas to two proposed new power plants, São Marcos I power station and São Marcos II power station, each with a capacity of 2.1 GW. The terminal would have a maximum regasification capacity of 21 million cubic meters per day.

In April 2021, New Fortress Energy acquired the terminal and power plant project from former owner Hygo Energy Transition (previously known as Golar Power). Golar Power filed for an environmental license for the project with IBAMA (Brazil's environmental regulatory authority) in 2018, with plans to compete in Brazil's A-6 energy auction in 2021.

Golar Power subsequently began looking at an alternative site for the terminal near the port of Itaqui, independent from the São Marcos power plants. Under this new arrangement, proposed in a 2020 letter of intent between Golar Energy and Companhia Maranhense de Gás, the terminal would bring in LNG shipments from New Fortress Energy's Sergipe FSRU and transfer them by truck to the interior of Maranhão state.

As of July 2021, the São Marcos Bay LNG Terminal and the associated São Marcos I and São Marcos II power stations continued to be listed as active projects by the Brazilian government, still in the licensing phase and awaiting a final investment decision.

In April 2023, Brazil's national ports authority approved a petition from Itaqui's port administrator EMAP (Empresa Maranhense de Administração Portuária) requesting the right to develop a new berth (Berço 94) capable of acccommodating a 14 million m³/day FSRU. The new berth, together with pipelines and other associated infrastructure, was authorized to occupy an area of 28,000 m² within Itaqui's port zone. The decision cleared the way for EMAP to solicit bids from companies interested in developing an FSRU project at the Port of Itaqui. As of May 2023, EMAP declined to comment on its timeline for launching the bidding process, and it remained unclear whether New Fortress Energy intended to place a bid. Other competitors potentially interested in developing the project included Eneva and Servtec, which formed a joint venture in 2021 to assess prospects for operating an LNG terminal at Itaqui and Gera Maranhão, which had been contemplating its own Geramar FSRU project at Itaqui port.

As of August 2024, there had been no further news of plans to develop an LNG terminal at the Port of Itaqui, and the project's status remained unclear.