Spain's Enagas is looking to increase its presence in Chile's LNG sector by taking up stakes in new and existing regasification terminals, said Jose Antonio de las Heras, who represents Enagas on the board of GNL Chile, which operates the Quintero terminal, over the weekend.
Enagas last week doubled its stake in the Quintero terminal to 40% by buying Endesa Chile's share for $200 million.
"We are not interested just in Quintero but in other greenfield and brownfield facilities in the country," De las Heras said, during a visit to the Quintero terminal, 156 kilometers northwest of Santiago, which was receiving the first cargo of LNG from US Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass facility.
Enagas acquired its original 20% stake in Quintero in 2013 by buying out the 40% interest owned by BG group in partnership with the Oman Oil Company.
BG has a 30-year contract to supply gas to the terminal's pool of consumers -- state-owned ENAP, power company Endesa Chile and gas distributor Metrogas.
De las Heras did not rule out increasing its stake further in the 15 million cubic meters/day Quintero terminal. The terminal's growth potential made the Endesa deal an attractive one, he added.
"Gas' market share is still small compared to other markets and with the increase in renewables, there is a need to shift the base generation from coal to gas due to the flexibility of combined cycle plants," De las Heras said.
Chile is expected to triple its solar photovoltaic capacity to around 3,000 MW in the coming months, while wind capacity is set to grow by 50% to 1,400 MW.
"Enagas is focused on midstream infrastructure ... We do not interfere either with the gas suppliers or the off-takers. We want to stay neutral," De las Heras explained.
