Puerto Sandino FSRU

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Puerto Sandino FSRU is a floating LNG import terminal under development in Puerto Sandino, Nicaragua.

Location

The FSRU will be moored in Puerto Sandino, Nicaragua.

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Project Details

• Owner: New Fortress Energy
• Location: Puerto Sandino, Nicaragua
• Coordinates: 12.171182, -86.767115 (approximate)
• Capacity: 1.3 mtpa
• Type: Import
• Status: Construction
• Start Year: 2024
• Associated infrastructure: Puerto Sandino LNG power plant

Background

New Fortress Energy (NFE) is developing a 0.4 MTPA LNG-to-power project, including the 300 MW Puerto Sandino LNG Power Plant and an offshore LNG receiving, storage and regasification terminal off the coast of Puerto Sandino. In February 2020 New Fortress Energy signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with Nicaragua’s electricity distribution companies to supply power produced from around 0.4 MTPA of LNG.

According to the IGU World LNG Report 2021, the project was under construction as of February 2020, and this is considered to be the construction start year.

The project start-up was originally expected in the second half of 2021, but commissioning was repeatedly delayed. In October 2021, New Fortress Energy's operations manager in Nicaragua reported that the project was 85% complete and preparing to enter a testing phase. However, as of February 2022, New Fortress Energy's most recent filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission indicated that the project was still under construction.

A February 2022 report from the IEEFA (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis) cited Nicaragua's "unstable political and economic environment" as a potential impediment to development of the Puerto Sandino terminal, noting recent friction between the United States and Nicaraguan governments over questions about Nicaragua's election integrity. New Fortress Energy, in its February 2022 filing with the US SEC, continued to acknowledge the possibility of "having to suspend our development or operations on a temporary or permanent basis" in response to United States and European government sanctions on Nicaragua.

News reports and New Fortress Energy investor presentations from late 2023 through mid-2024 affirmed that the gas-to-power project remained scheduled for commissioning in 2024, and in April 2024 the Nicaraguan government authorized construction of key remaining components of the project, including a jetty and breakwater.

NFE's Form S-3 filing with the SEC in March 2024 only made a passing mention the Puerto Sandino project ("In addition, we are currently developing facilities in Brazil, Nicaragua, Ireland and other location.") However, in August 2024 the company's Q2 2024 results report noted that the Puerto Sandino terminal was 90% complete and expected to begin service in the fourth quarter of 2024.

In November 2024, New Fortress Energy's Q3 2024 investor presentation pushed the completion date for the power plant and associated LNG terminal into Q1 2025, pending construction of the jetty (said to be 95% complete) and a five-mile pipeline connecting the LNG terminal and the power plant.