approval to import the fuel, bypassing national oil company CPC Corp. A decision may be made in the first half of the year, Taiwan Power Chairman Edward Chen told reporters in Taipei today. The state-run utility currently buys all its gas needs from CPC, which owns the island's liquefied natural gas receiving terminals and pipelines.
Taiwan's government forecasts LNG demand will rise 28 percent to 10.5 million metric tons in 2010 from last year's 8.2 million tons, after construction of additional cleaner-burning gas-fired generators. State-run Taiwan Power accounts for more than 60 percent of the island's LNG consumption.
"We hope to purchase LNG on our own," said Chen of Taiwan Power, the island's biggest electricity producer.
The Taipei-based utility, known as Taipower, is considering building an LNG import terminal, Chen said. Until then, the company will seek to lease CPC's facilities, he said.
The government owns 97 percent of the utility, which generates about 75 percent of the electricity the island uses and monopolizes transmission in Taiwan.
Taipower has contacted international companies such as Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. to "exchange information" on LNG, Chen said. Sell is Europe's largest oil company, while Total is the third-biggest.
Taipower's natural-gas purchases may rise 27 percent to 5.58 million tons in 2008 from the 4.38 million tons estimated for last year, Chief Engineer Tu Yueh-yuan said Dec. 6.
Gas-fired generators account for 33 percent of Taiwan's installed capacity, compared with 31 percent for coal-fired units and the 9.5 percent that burn fuel oil.
LNG is natural gas that has been chilled to liquid form, reducing it to one-six-hundredth of its original volume at minus 161 degrees Celsius (minus 259 Fahrenheit), for transportation by ship to destinations not connected by pipeline. On arrival, it's turned back into gas for distribution to power plants, factories and households.
Terms of use