Russian enters race to supply LNG to Tatan power plant

Energy company based in Russia's Far East will join the competition to supply natural gas to Taiwan Power Co.'s Tatan power plant, Dow Jones`reported Friday.

"We hope to aggressively participate in the (gas supply) tender," said Steve McVeigh, chief executive of Sakhalin Energy Investment Co.

The company, a joint venture among Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan., is based on Russia's Sakhalin Island, north of Japan on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean.

The company will join a team led by the Shell Group's trading company Shell Eastern, which will enter a bid for the 25-year supply contract worth NT$400 billion (US$1=NT$34.650), according to officials at Shell and Sakhalin Energy.

"Russia can be a secure and reliable source of energy for Taiwan...The island of Sakhalin is very close to Taiwan, so the transportation cost will be relatively cheap and supplies will be more or less unhindered unlike supplies from the Middle East or other far away areas," said V.N. Verchenko, representative of the Moscow-Taipei Coordination Commission on Economic and Cultural Cooperation, in a seminar on Sakhalin's gas resources.

The commission handles Russia's relations with Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.

Officials from Qatar, Australia and Indonesia have also expressed interest in supplying LNG to the Tatan power plant.

Currently, Taiwan imports most of its gas needs from Indonesia and Malaysia in the form of liquefied natural gas.

The tender for the Tatan power plant natural gas supply contract closes March 24. When the 4000-megawatt power plant reaches its full capacity, it will account for around 10 percent of Taiwan's electricity supply. (*)