EIG, a leading institutional investor to the global energy and infrastructure sectors, and Fluxys, a leading energy infrastructure company, announced that they jointly will acquire an 80% equity stake in GNL Quintero S.A. (“Quintero”), the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal in Chile, from Enagas Chile SpA and affiliates of OMERS Infrastructure. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
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Quintero is a key energy infrastructure business supporting Chile’s decarbonization strategy with a bridging fuel that allows for the reconciliation of economic growth with the uptake of renewables and the phasing out of coal. Operational since 2009, Quintero is the largest terminal for receiving and unloading LNG in Chile, as well as for its storage and regasification capacities. The terminal benefits from its strategic location in Quintero Bay, supplying a diversified base of customers in central Chile across residential, commercial, industrial, transportation and power generation sectors. The terminal owns 75% of the country´s LNG regasification capacity and in 2021, 67% of the total natural gas imports (both LNG and pipeline imports) arrived in Chile through this strategic asset. With a daily regasification capacity of 15 million m3, an LNG storage capacity of 334,000 m3 and 2,500 m3 per day of truck loading capacity, the terminal is a reliable supplier of natural gas that contributes to Chile’s energy diversification and security.
Chile has world-class solar and wind resources and a RES capacity equivalent to 4% of total global energy demand. The country is aiming to become one of the world’s three largest green hydrogen producers with plans to install 200 GW of renewable power by 2040 to produce green hydrogen. Chile already has signed several agreements to promote the export of green hydrogen, among others with the Belgian ports of Antwerp/Zeebrugge, Germany, the Port of Rotterdam and South Korea.
The acquisition builds on EIG’s presence in the Chilean market, where the firm owns Cerro Dominador, a groundbreaking solar complex that combines a 100MW photovoltaic (PV) plant with a 110MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant. The PV plant has been operational since 2017 and the CSP plant was successfully synchronized with Chile’s electricity grid in April 2021. EIG also is a partner in AME S.p.A, a Chile-based project developer and independent power producer. AME co-owns Generadora Metropolitana, the fifth largest electricity generation company in Chile, as well as HIF Global, a leader in the hydrogen and e-fuels sector, with a series of commercial-scale projects in development and expected to reach construction over the next several years.
For Fluxys, the partnership is a forward-looking investment creating a foothold in another country in Latin America where the energy transition stands high on the government agenda. With its abundant solar and wind resources, Chile aims to produce the world’s cheapest green hydrogen. The Belgian Hydrogen Import Coalition with Fluxys as partner has affirmed the competitiveness and feasibility of a green molecule supply chain from Chile to Europe and Belgium.