Sound starts groundwork for Moroccan micro-LNG plant
London-listed Sound Energy announced on social media on March 28 that it had begun preparing the ground for the construction of a micro-LNG plant in Morocco as part of the first phase of its Tendrara gas development.
The announcement comes after Sound in mid-February issued a notice to proceed to contractor Italfuid Geoenergy to begin building the plant. Pictures posted by Sound on social media show that construction vehicles have now begun levelling the site.
The plant's construction is fully funded, after Sound secured a $18mn loan at the end of December. Sound has agreed to sell 100mn m3/year of gas from the facility to local fuel distributor Afriquia Gaz on a take-or-pay basis, with the price fixed at $6.00-8.346/mn Btu.
The second stage of Tendrara's development is much larger in scale, and will involve the development of a 120-km pipeline to link the concession with the Maghreb-Europe gas system. Sound reached an agreement in November last year to sell 350mn m3/yr of gas from this phase to Moroccan state power company ONEE, with a take-or-pay requirement of 300mn m3/yr.