Talcahuano FSRU

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Talcahuano FSRU, known locally as the Terminal Marítimo GNL Talcahuano, is a proposed LNG import terminal in the Bay of Concepción, Chile.

Location

The proposed terminal would be located offshore in the Bay of Concepción, Chile, 4 kilometers from the Isla de los Reyes coastline.

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Project Details

• Owner: GNL Talcahuano SpA
• Parent company: EOS Investment Group
• Location: 4 km offshore from Isla de los Reyes, Bay of Concepción, Chile
• Coordinates: -36.718357, -73.102769 (approximate)
• Capacity: 2.3 mtpa
• Status: Shelved
• Type: Import
• Start Year:

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

Background

Talcahuano LNG Terminal is a proposed floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) off the coast of Talcahuano, Chile. The marine LNG facility would allow the import, storage and regasification of LNG transported by carrier ships. Gas from the terminal would be dispatched through a flexible underwater gas pipeline into the existing Gasoducto del Pacífico pipeline, which is the hub of the Biobío Region's natural gas network, enabling distribution companies to deliver natural gas to their clients. The proposed terminal would have an approximate storage capacity of 100,000 m3 of LNG and a maximum regasification capacity of 8.5 million m³/day (3.1 billion m³/year). The terminal's proposed location is about 4 kilometers offshore from the Isla de los Reyes coastline. The proposed design does not use a jetty connection to land. The LNG regasification process is to be carried out using vaporizer technology with a closed fresh water-glycol cycle, free from the use of seawater.

In 2017 the project won approval on a unanimous vote by the Chilean environmental agency SEA (Servicio de Evaluación Ambiental), with the provision that construction must begin within five years. The approval came despite strong opposition from local mussel fishermen, nine of whose representatives were arrested after being ejected from the hearing, and from Talcahuano's mayor, who promised to continue fighting the project, citing its uncertain impact on the environment and the local tourist industry.

Chilean pipeline operator Gasoducto del Pacífico granted a connection feasibility certificate to the Talcahuano terminal in 2011, allowing gas from the proposed terminal to be distributed via the existing Gasoducto del Pacífico pipeline network. However, in 2017 the general manager of Innergy, a company that promotes sales of Argentine gas through the same pipeline, expressed doubts about the validity of the 2011 certificate, a position that was apparently backed by Gasoducto del Pacífico, leaving the Talcahuano terminal project in limbo.

In 2019, lawyers for the Talcahuano terminal filed an appeal for legal protection against Gasoducto del Pacífico, claiming that Innergy and Gasoducto del Pacífico were improperly disregarding the 2011 certificate and effectively colluding to prevent Terminal Marítimo GNL Talcahuano from connecting to the Pacífico pipeline. An appeals court denied the appeal, but in August 2020 this decision was overturned by Chile's Supreme Court, paving the way for the terminal project to proceed.

Following the August Supreme Court decision and a September 2020 ruling by the Environmental Court of Valdivia that rejected several objections to the project on environmental grounds, officials of GNL Talcahuano announced that construction of the terminal would begin in March 2021, with a projected cost of US$160 million and commercial start-up date in the second half of 2022.

In October 2021, the project encountered another roadblock when the Environmental Court of Valdivia revoked the terminal's environmental license, citing the owners' insufficient consideration of citizen input and impacts on local fauna, and their failure to conduct consultations with indigenous groups as required by law. In November 2021, the company announced that it would appeal the decision before Chile's Supreme Court.

In January 2023, Chile's Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling invalidating the Talcahuano terminal's environmental license. GNL Talcahuano CEO Juan Ignacio Ugarte said that the company would study the court's ruling before making any official pronouncements on the project's future. As of July 2023 there have been no further developments, and the project is presumed to be shelved.