ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank approved a loan of $30 million to a company which is building Pakistan’s first liquefied natural gas terminal at the Port Qasim where regasification of up to 3 million tonnes of imported LNG will be started from next month.
The $30 million loan is to be used to build and operate the regasification facility. The fuel, suitable for use at most of the country’s combined cycle power plants, will be supplied to the state-owned Sui Southern Gas Company’s distribution network via a new high pressure pipeline.
Besides the ADB, the International Finance Corporation is likely to provide $20 million and local banks another $50 million. The rest of the project financing will come from equity proceeds of $33.3 million, for a total cost of $133.3 million, including contingencies.
The regasification project is expected to set legal and financial benchmarks for similar projects in future, ADB says. Regasification converts LNG into natural gas, making it easier to store and distribute through pipelines to end users including power generators. The project will help avoid up to 2 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
