Tiny Pacific Island Eyes LNG Market Debut With Supply Deal

(Bloomberg) -- New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific, is joining the global liquefied natural gas boom with a plan to use the cleaner-burning fossil fuel in power generation.

The island group with a population of 280,000 is seeking suppliers for its planned Centrale Pays Project, a floating LNG terminal and 200-megawatt gas-fired power plant. Nouvelle-Caledonie Energie, the project’s developer, is pitching for a 15-year LNG or regasified fuel contract, according to an expression of interest seen by Bloomberg.

Small buyers for LNG such as New Caledonia are popping up around the world to feed demand for the fastest-growing and cleanest fossil fuel. While the island’s needs of about 200,000 tons of LNG a year are a fraction of what a nation like France imports annually, it adds to the interest for the fuel outside of developed markets in Japan and Europe.

NCE is a venture between the government, the island’s electricity producer, its grid operator, and nickel producer SLN owned by Eramet SA. NCE ruled out onshore LNG storage and regas facilities.

The new power station will replace a 45-year-old facility built inside SLN’s plant in the city of Noumea, providing most of its output to SLN and some to the public. The import terminal and power plant are expected to start up in the second half of 2023.

To contact the reporters on this story: Stephen Stapczynski in Singapore at sstapczynsk1@bloomberg.net;Anna Shiryaevskaya in London at ashiryaevska@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net, Andrew Reierson, Lars Paulsson

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