First Gen Corporation said it was waiting for formal notice on the Department of Energy’s (DoE) decision allowing it to proceed with a natural gas project with Tokyo Gas Co.

First Gen said its unit, FGEN LNG Corporation, applied for a notice to proceed with the construction of an LNG terminal in Batangas City, according to a stock exchange filing dated March 8.

Tokyo Gas, in a separate statement, said that it obtained together with First Gen the Philippine government’s approval for the project.

Japan’s largest gas utility plans to own a 20% stake of the project, aiming to commence operation in 2023, Tokyo Gas spokesman Noriyoshi Ibara in Tokyo told NNA.

Tokyo Gas and First Gen submitted the LNG terminal plan to the DoE last December. Although the consortium gained the permit, “we have yet to make a final investment decision,” the spokesman said without elaborating.

The new terminal will have an annual capacity of 5.26 million tons, according to Rino Abad, director of the department’s oil industry management bureau. Local media said investment costs were estimated at $10 billion.

Manila has so far approved two other LNG hubs development projects, but the Tokyo Gas-First Gen venture is the largest in capacity size.

First Gen aims to firm up contractors, costs and other arrangements “within the year” to proceed the plan by next year, company president Francis Giles Puno was quoted by “BusinessMirror” as saying.

(Excerpted from news.abs-cbn. com)