Ecuador’s hydrocarbon ministry has approved the construction of the country’s first LNG import terminal as a part of its drive to diversify power supply sources. The country mostly relies on oil-fueled power plants and is considering converting them into gas-fired facilities to meet growing power demand and reduce carbon emissions.
Ecuador’s first LNG import terminal will be built by US firm Sycar in partnership with an unnamed LNG trading company. Sycar said it expected to complete environmental licensing by this year’s fourth quarter and start construction in 2021. Sycar will build a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) that will supply gas to the 130MW Thermo Gas Machala power plant in El Oro province.
Ecuador also plans to expand hydroelectric generation capacity to 2.79GW from 2.05GW by constructing five new plants.
