On 21 March, the firm has received the commercial operations certificate from ANEEL (Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency)
Golar Power to start operations on Porto de Sergipe power facility. (Credit: Pixabay/David Mark)
Golar Power, a joint venture between Golar LNG and Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, is ready begin commercial operations on 1.5GW Porto de Sergipe power plant in Brazil.
The firm has received the commercial operations certificate from ANEEL (Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency) for the project on 21 March that allows to begin commercial operations the power plant.
Located in Barra dos Coqueiros, Brazil, the project is a natural gas-fired power plant and is claimed to be the biggest thermal power plant in Brazil.
The power plant comprises three GE 7HA gas turbines, a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), and a steam turbine also from GE.
The project also includes a dedicated LNG import and regasification terminal using the Golar Nanook, a newly constructed floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) with a capacity of 170,000m³ of LNG storage.
The natural gas will be carried to the facility through a pipeline from the FSRU which is located 6.5km away from the coastline.
Golar stated: “The project revolutionizes the way power is delivered to millions of people in Brazil, allowing the country to meet its growing requirement for base-load capacity using a large-scale power plant fuelled by cleaner and more reliable LNG.
“This important achievement will facilitate Brazil’s transition to lower-carbon energy generation sources whilst also promoting the use of LNG to balance and diversify its supply of energy.”
Golar LNG owns 25% stake of the power plant
Through the 50% investment in Golar Power, Golar LNG (GLNG) holds 25% stake of the power plant.
The power generated by the facility will be sold to 26 power distribution companies under multiple long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) which was executed through an auction by the Brazilian government in April 2015.
Recently, Golar Power has completed the final operational test at the Porto de Sergipe power plant.
The test was conducted by supplying the maximum load of the plant to the National Interconnected System (SIN) for a period of 96 continuous hours.