Facing the temporary interruption of natural gas deliveries from Altamira, Mexico, caused by a sudden, unforeseen failure at that facility, NFEnergía has activated the measures provided in its contract to keep supplying units 5 and 6 of the San Juan Central plant, which provide about 15% of the energy consumed in Puerto Rico. The company says its San Juan terminal is available to receive, regasify and distribute gas from other suppliers under the mechanism in its contract with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA; AEE in Spanish), and it has delivered the operational procedures and technical requirements needed for third parties to use its facilities.
The interruption stems from a sudden mechanical failure in the gas turbine at the Altamira plant, which remains out of operation while its owner and the equipment manufacturers investigate the cause. Subject to that investigation’s results, NFEnergía projects resuming full deliveries to Puerto Rico in December. Its contract anchors the price to the Henry Hub index plus a fixed charge: with Henry Hub at $2.82 per MMBtu, gas for units 5 and 6 costs $9.74 per MMBtu, while international LNG exceeds $30 per MMBtu and diesel, now powering those units, is priced in that same band.
NFEnergía notified PREPA, Genera PR and the Public-Private Partnerships Authority (AAPP) by contractual notice on November 1, proposed a competitive process to buy up to 100,000 cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and offered available vessels as floating storage. These efforts are being handled within the judicial process initiated by PREPA.