POSCO E&C announced on Oct. 20 that it has successfully completed the construction of the largest combined cycle power plant and LNG terminal in Panama.

An opening ceremony was held at the plant on Oct. 18 (local time) with the attendance of Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Michael Kozak and Choo Won-hoon, Korean ambassador to Panama. Andres Gluski, president of AES which awarded the project to POSCO E&C, and Cho Il-hyun, head of the Plant Division at POSCO E&C, were among the 300 officials who were present at the ceremony.

The power plant and LNG terminal were built in the Colon area, about 60 km north of Panama City, and cost US$650 million in total. The power plant, the largest of its kind in Panama, has a power generation capacity of 380 mW. The LNG tank with a storage capacity of 18 cubic meters is the first LNG terminal in Panama.

The power plant will account for about 23 percent of Panama’s total power generation, providing power to nearby industrial complexes and 300,000-plus homes.

POSCO E&C started construction in May 2015 on an EPC basis and completed the project in just 27 months, the shortest period for a combined cycle power plant in Latin America.