LNGPH, a joint venture backed by tycoons Manuel V. Pangilinan, Sabin Aboitiz, and Ramon Ang, is planning to invest approximately P6 billion to expand its liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage capacity. The company aims to build a third onshore storage tank with a capacity of 100,000 to 180,000 cubic meters, which could hold up to 18 days’ worth of LNG supply. According to LNGPH president and CEO Yari Miralao, the construction of this new tank is expected to take between 36 to 42 months.
LNGPH recently completed two full-containment LNG storage tanks, each with a capacity of 60,000 cubic meters, at its Ilijan facility in Batangas. These tanks represent the country’s first large-scale onshore LNG storage facilities and can each store around five and a half days’ worth of supply. Additionally, the company charters a floating storage unit from ADNOC, which can store about 12 days’ worth of LNG.
Miralao emphasized the company’s shift toward onshore storage solutions, stating, “We’re now in this contemplative period, and the thought process now is to start moving tanks onshore because that’s a more natural solution as opposed to these FSRUs (floating storage and regasification units).” The planned expansion aims to increase LNGPH’s total storage capacity to more than a month’s worth of supply.
LNGPH operates gas-fired power plants in Batangas with a combined capacity of at least 2,500 megawatts, supplying about 18 percent of Luzon’s electricity demand. Excellent Energy Resources Inc., a subsidiary of LNGPH, is among the 10 companies pre-qualified for the country’s first mid-merit natural gas auction, which seeks to attract 3.8 gigawatts of natural gas-fired capacity to meet growing electricity demand.