Taiwan's sole importer of LNG, CPC Corp. has finalized the location of its third LNG terminal near the country's capital Taipei, company chairman Lin Sheng-Chung said at the LNG Producer-Consumer conference in Tokyo Wednesday.
He added that Taiwan's LNG imports would reach 20 million mt/year by 2030. The country imported 12 million mt/year in 2011.
The boost in LNG imports is due to Taiwan's gradual decommissioning of its existing nuclear plants starting from 2019, with LNG substituting nuclear power, Lin said.
Taiwan currently meets 98% of its natural gas needs with LNG, with local production contributing the balance 2%.
"In 2011, natural gas in Taiwan accounted for 11.6% of [Taiwan's] primary energy supply, and it was the highest share on record," Lin said.
"CPC is interested in entering into a US Henry Hub gas-linked contract to improve CPC's price competitiveness in LNG procurement, since the crude oil price fluctuates all the time," he added.
Long-term LNG contracts, which typically run 20-30 years, are based on an oil-linked formula.
The third LNG receiving terminal's capacity is likely to be around 5 million mt/year, a CPC official said in March, adding that the terminal would likely commence operations after 2018.
