CPC Corp., Taiwan's only liquefied natural gas importer, is delaying for the second time the startup of a new terminal that will boost the island's capacity to handle LNG cargoes by almost 40 percent. The state-run oil refiner will postpone the startup of Taichung terminal to around end-September from July, and cover any LNG shortfall caused by this with cargoes arriving at Yongan port, Vice President C.S. Lin said by phone in Taipei yesterday. The Taichung LNG terminal, designed to process 3 million metric tons of the fuel a year, was originally scheduled to start commercial operations in January. The project fell behind schedule as winds and waves slowed the construction of an undersea pipeline that is to transport gas from the terminal to the 4,384-megawatt Tatan power plant.
"It's difficult as winds and waves are huge in the north," Lin said.
Natural gas demand is expected to rise to 9.5 million tons this year from 8.3 million tons in 2007, and may reach 16 million tons in 2020, CPC Chairman Wenent Pan said in February. The capacity of Yongan, the island's only LNG port, can be expanded to 10 million tons, Lin said in December last year.
"Yongan will be enough to handle demand," Lin said yesterday. This year's gas consumption may be less than forecast as electricity use falls, he said.
Power consumption declined 6 percent from a year earlier last month after Taiwan Power Co., the island's only electricity retailer, raised prices. The Taipei-based utility increased tariffs by 12.6 percent in July.
About 80 percent of Taiwan's LNG is taken up by power producers, according to the Bureau of Energy Web site.
Gas fired generators accounted for 33 percent of the island's installed capacity as of June, Taiwan Power said on its Web site. Construction of the utility's Tatan plant in northern Taiwan is scheduled to be completed by January.
LNG is natural gas that has been chilled to liquid form, reducing it to one-six-hundredth of its original volume at minus 161 degrees Celsius (minus 259 Fahrenheit), for transportation by ship to destinations not connected by pipeline. On arrival, it is turned back into gas for distribution to power plants, factories and households.
"It's difficult as winds and waves are huge in the north," Lin said.
Natural gas demand is expected to rise to 9.5 million tons this year from 8.3 million tons in 2007, and may reach 16 million tons in 2020, CPC Chairman Wenent Pan said in February. The capacity of Yongan, the island's only LNG port, can be expanded to 10 million tons, Lin said in December last year.
"Yongan will be enough to handle demand," Lin said yesterday. This year's gas consumption may be less than forecast as electricity use falls, he said.
Power consumption declined 6 percent from a year earlier last month after Taiwan Power Co., the island's only electricity retailer, raised prices. The Taipei-based utility increased tariffs by 12.6 percent in July.
About 80 percent of Taiwan's LNG is taken up by power producers, according to the Bureau of Energy Web site.
Gas fired generators accounted for 33 percent of the island's installed capacity as of June, Taiwan Power said on its Web site. Construction of the utility's Tatan plant in northern Taiwan is scheduled to be completed by January.
LNG is natural gas that has been chilled to liquid form, reducing it to one-six-hundredth of its original volume at minus 161 degrees Celsius (minus 259 Fahrenheit), for transportation by ship to destinations not connected by pipeline. On arrival, it is turned back into gas for distribution to power plants, factories and households.