Petrobras swaps FSRUs as thermal dispatch rises

Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras swapped its two floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) to optimize LNG send-out for rising thermoelectric generation.

The company told Argus that the 14mn m³/d Golar Winter FSRU is now operating in Pecem in Ceara state and the 20mn m³/d Excelerate Experience has been relocated to the company's terminal in Bahia state.

The move aims to optimize LNG logistics to bring it in line with demand.

Golar Winter arrived in Pecem from Bahia on 10 February, according to local shipping agencies, just two days after Brazil's electricity sector monitoring committee (CMSE) announced it would increase thermoelectric generation. Experience arrived in Bahia on 8 February.

The decision aims to maximize the use of lower cost natural gas-fired plants to conserve water in hydroelectric reservoirs. Higher-cost diesel and fuel oil-powered plants were not dispatched.

Brazilian thermoelectric generation is scheduled to reach an average of 7.8GW this week, up by 8.2pc from last week, according to electricity market specialists Thymos Energia.

Rainfall in the northeastern grid, where both LNG terminals are located, is forecast to reach just 19pc of the historical average this month.

Thymos estimates that the electricity regulator Aneel could be forced to reimpose a tariff surcharge to consumers' electricity bills for nine months this year, because of additional thermoelectric generation.

In January, thermal dispatch reached an average of 7.1GW, according to preliminary data from the electricity clearing house CCEE. Of that total, gas-fired plants generated an average of 3.4GW in January, up from 1.75MW in December 2018, indicating that LNG send-out likely started to recover last month.

Brazilian LNG send-out reached just 250,000 m³/d in November, the lowest level since February 2012 as thermoelectric generation plummeted, according to the mines and energy ministry's latest monthly gas report. LNG send-out likely bottomed out in December as thermoelectric generation continued to fall, reaching an average of just 6.14GW compared to 7.77GW in November, according to grid operator ONS.

A third FSRU, Golar Nanook, is scheduled to arrive in Brazil later this month. Nanook will supply the 1.5GW Porto de Sergipe thermoelectric plant, the country's first LNG-to-power plant scheduled to begin commissioning later this year.