Terminal Gás Sul FSRU

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Terminal Gás Sul, also known by its abbreviation TGS, is an LNG terminal under construction in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Location

The proposed terminal will be a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) located in Babitonga Bay, 300m offshore from São Francisco do Sul, in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina.

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Project Details

• Sponsor: Terminal Gás Sul
• Owner: New Fortress Energy
• Vessel Name: Energos Winter
• Location: Babitonga Bay, offshore from São Francisco do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil
• Coordinates: -26.230937, -48.640791 (approximate)
• Capacity: 6 Mtpa (previously listed by other sources as 3.8 mtpa or 15 million m³ per day)
• Status: Operating
• Type: Import
• Start Year: 2024
• Financing:

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

Background

The Terminal Gás Sul project, located in the state of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil, was originally designed to include a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) with a regasification capacity of 15Mm³ per day (5.47 billion m³ per year) and a storage capacity of 160Mm3 of LNG. The proposed unit was to connect to the Gasbol gas pipeline via a 31km pipeline while also supplying gas to Engie's proposed Norte Catarinense power station — a power plant whose originally licensed capacity of 600MW was set to potentially double to 1.2 GW in response to development of the TGS terminal. Other proposed markets for gas imported through the terminal included Araucária power station in Paraná state, and gas distributors in Brazil's three southernmost states, including Paraná's Compagas, Santa Catarina's SCGás and Rio Grande do Sul's Sulgás.

In April 2021, New Fortress Energy acquired the TGS terminal project from original owner Hygo Energy Transition (previously known as Golar Energy). With the acquisition, New Fortress assumed ownership of additional Brazilian LNG assets, including the Sergipe FSRU terminal in Pernambuco state, which became Brazil's first privately owned LNG terminal when it was commissioned in 2020, and the proposed Celba LNG Terminal in Pará state.

As of November 2020, Terminal Gás Sul had applied for all necessary licenses, with construction expected to begin in late 2021, and commercial operations to follow in 2022. In December 2020, Santa Catarina's state government issued the required DUP (Declaration of Public Utility), clearing the way for a final installation license to be granted by Santa Catarina's state environmental authority, IMA-SC. As of April 2021, construction of the terminal was only waiting on the installation license, with Santa Catarina's governor promising a speedy resolution.

In November 2021, construction of the terminal began after Brazil's national petroleum agency ANP granted final approval to New Fortress Energy for the project. In December 2021, Santa Catarina state's Secretary of Economic Development announced that the terminal would begin operating in April 2022.

As of March 2022, construction was reportedly 60% complete, and the projected start-up date had been moved back to August 2022.

In August 2022, with the terminal estimated to be 90% complete, New Fortress Energy (NFE) announced that commissioning had been delayed to 2023, raising concerns that spiking European demand provoked by the Russia-Ukraine war might be restricting LNG supply to NFE's Brazilian operations.

In October 2022, BNAmericas reported that NFE was looking to sell off its Brazilian LNG projects (Terminal Gás Sul and Celba FSRU) to a new owner.

In May 2023, New Fortress Energy confirmed that the terminal was still on track to begin commercial operations in late 2023, although a Q1 2023 investor presentation showed that the company expected no income from its Santa Catarina state operations until 2024.

In March 2024, NFE announced that Terminal Gás Sul had begun commercial operations, with the 6 MTPA Energos Winter FSRU set to supply gas to TBG's Gasbol pipeline via a 33-kilometer, 20-inch connector. NFE planned to sign a long-term charter with Energos for continued use of the Energos Winter, pending completion of the company's existing sub-charter with Petrobras. The company reportedly anticipated that Brazil's next round of energy auctions, scheduled for December 2024, would award contracts to gas power plants in the area, bolstering industrial demand for the gas produced at the terminal.