A-Power Energy is best known for their wind turbine biz but quietly have been pursuing and winning work to build biofuel facilities which we reported here several weeks ago.  This morning they are announcing a potentially huge partnership deal with Macau Natural Gas, to construct an offshore liquid natural gas (LNG) complex to import, store and re-gasify LNG to help power the casino mecca Macau.  A-Power’s industry alliance Shenyang Power Group, which it owns the majority of (60%), has signed a memorandum of understanding which is legally binding but may be terminated by mutual consent before the project gets off the ground. 

If the project gets underway, it will expand the current nat gas facilities of Macau Natural Gas at a cost of $1.5 billion over 2 years.  An artificial island will be formed next to Macau to house receiving and re-gasification terminals, storage facilities and pipelines with an estimated LNG capacity of 3 million tons per year starting in 2013.

“A-Power as the majority-owner of Shenyang Power is very pleased to be a participant in such a major clean energy project in Southern China,” said Mr. Jinxiang Lu, A-Power’s Chairman and CEO. “This offshore LNG complex has received avowed support from the government including the City of Shenyang and the Macau Special Administrative Region at the local level, as well as the National Development and Reform Commission in Beijing. With the government backing, we are hopeful that the final terms of the contract will be set out later this year and the construction phase could start sometime next year.”

Considering the government owns a portion of Shenyang, I’d expect few regulatory hurdles and this deal to get done.