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fter a year of waiting, state electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) finally received the first gas delivery from a floating storage and re-gasification (FSRU) unit in Jakarta Bay.

PLN oil-based fuels and gas division head Suryadi Mardjoeki said in Jakarta on Friday that as the FSRU was still in the commissioning process, the volume of gas delivered to the power plant was only between 30 and 50 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd).

“We hope there is no problem in the commissioning phase so that the gas delivery can be gradually increased to 165 mmscfd,” he told reporters via text message.

Upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas spokesperson Gde Pradnyana confirmed that the gas had been delivered to PLN’s power plant.

“Around one cargo of liquefied natural gas [LNG] has been delivered to the FSRU for PLN. In a year, the commitment is around 11 cargoes,” he said.

As reported earlier, PLN secured a LNG delivery contract with PT Badak Natural Gas Liquefaction (NGL), operator of the Bontang LNG plant in East Kalimantan.

Under the contract, Bontang will deliver 11.75 million tons of LNG for a contract period of 11 years, or 1.06 million tons per annum (mtpa).

A million tons of LNG is equal to 140 mmscfd.

The construction of the FSRU began a year ago. It is operated by PT Nusantara Regas, a company jointly owned by Pertamina and state gas distributor Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN).

The first LNG for the FSRU was sent from Bontang on April 26. The LNG Aquarius vessel was used to carry the LNG to the FSRU. LNG Aquarius has a total LNG capacity of 125,600 cubic meters. The tanker was first used to ship LNG from Bontang to a buyer in Osaka, Japan, in August 1977.

The construction of the Jakarta FSRU aims to provide better infrastructure to anticipate rising domestic gas demand. Indonesia’s gas demand is estimated to jump from 3,500 mmscfd in 2009 to 4,700 mmscfd in 2015.

Improved gas infrastructure is thereby necessary to ensure all gas users receive sufficient supply.

In addition to the Jakarta FSRU, PGN plans another FSRU to be set up in Lampung.

The FSRU was previously to be located in Belawan, North Sumatra, but after Pertamina announced its plan to convert the Arun LNG plant in Aceh into a receiving terminal, the government decided to move it to Lampung.

Oil and gas giant BP agreed on Thursday to supply 230 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas to PLN from its Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Papua.

The 230 mmscfd of gas is equal to 1.7 million tons of LNG, or one cargo. The gas would come from the allocation initially designated for US-based Sempra Energy, which has not yet been taken up.

BPMigas sealed an agreement with the company earlier this month to take back 90 percent of Sempra’s annual LNG allocation of 60 cargoes and use it for domestic purposes or sell it on the spot market.