Colombia ramping up LNG imports as El Niño tightens grip

Colombia's Calamari LNG is ratcheting up imports of liquefied natural gas as it seeks to meet rising demand from thermoelectric power plants. 

The company has this year received around 500,000m3 of the fuel from 11 shipments via the SPEC regasification terminal in Cartagena, Colombia's only LNG import facility. 

The rate of incoming cargoes is expected to accelerate in the coming weeks as an El Niño-induced drought reduces the availability hydroelectric power and spurs demand for electricity from backup thermoelectric plants.  

According to Calamari general manager Alfredo Chamat, key suppliers of LNG to Colombia include the US and Trinidad and Tobago. 

"Colombia is connected to a world market which allows [us] to have access to an infinite supply," newspaper El Tiempo quoted Chamat as saying. "It is able to arrive in a quick and timely manner, which is key to avoiding shortages."

Calamari supplies natural gas to three thermoelectric generators: Tebsa, Termocandelaria and Prime Termoflores. 

Since 2017, Calamari has imported 2.5Mm3 (million cubic meters) of LNG to support power generation capacity of more than 2GW. 

Completed in 2016 at a cost of US$427mn, the Cartagena LNG plant currently boasts a 170,000m3 floating storage regasification unit with regasification capacity of 400Mf3/d. It is connected to the national gas network via a 9.2km pipeline.

Efforts to ramp up LNG imports come as meteorologists predict that abnormally dry weather caused by the El Niño phenomenon could last until June next year. 

Hydroelectricity accounts for more than two-thirds of Colombia's installed power capacity and in times of drought the country relies on back-up thermoelectric plants fired by gas, coal or liquid fuels to avoid electricity shortages.