Excelerate Energy has executed an agreement with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) to undertake the development and permitting of a floating offshore LNG regasification facility off the southern coast of Puerto Rico.

The facility, named Aguirre GasPort®, will provide fuel to the Central Aguirre Power Plant and is a step forward in the island's strategy to convert power generation from high-cost, high-emissions imported oil to cost-effective, cleaner-burning natural gas.

The Central Aguirre Power plant has already converted 600 MW of its available 1,500 MW to utilize natural gas and has plans to convert the remaining 900 MW prior to completion of the import terminal.

"If we want to be competitive at the global level, we must substantially reduce dependence on oil. The construction of the Aguirre GasPort facility will allow us to reduce that dependency," a PREPA representative stated.

The floating, storage and regasification unit (FSRU) will be about four miles offshore the southern coast of Puerto Rico, near the towns of Salinas and Guayama and will utilize one of Excelerate Energy's 150,900-cubic-meter floating storage and regasification vessels.

The facility will operate year-round, delivering natural gas to PREPA's Aguirre Power Plant as its primary fuel source.

The Aguirre GasPort will require authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and be subject to a full public environmental review and analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The facility is expected to be in-service in 2014.