Slow and steady South Africa may lose FSRU race

Importing LNG could be one of the quickest solutions to meeting South Africa’s gas needs. However, the time-saving benefits of leasing an FSRU (which could be installed in as little as 18 months) or a floating power station (which could be put in place in as little as nine) may be lost if the country’s Department of Energy does not streamline the tendering process.

In his state of the nation address in February, President Jacob Zuma said the procurement process for 2.4 GW of new gas-fired generation will launch in Q2 2015. The government has also directed state-owned utility Eskom to switch from burning diesel to gas in its generators within three years.