After announcing that a U.K. court approved its debt restructuring plan aimed at avoiding bankruptcy, and that it is seeking recognition of the plan in the United States, New Fortress Energy Inc. has once again postponed the start of operations at the natural gas-fired power plant it built in Nicaragua. Originally scheduled to begin operating in 2021, the company now says the plant will come online in the first half of 2027 and that it is evaluating the possibility of selling electricity into the regional market.
New Fortress Energy arrived in Nicaragua in 2020 with a $700 million investment to build a 300-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant. The Ortega-Murillo regime touted the project as the first natural gas power plant in the region, although a similar facility had already been operating in Panama since 2018.
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In October 2021, project manager Winnie Irizarry announced that the plant would begin generating electricity the following month. But since then, without any official explanation becoming publicly known, the company has repeatedly postponed the start of operations. As the delays mounted, so did the company’s financial problems.
Power Generation Had Been Scheduled to Begin in October
In February 2026, the company confirmed that, in an effort to avoid bankruptcy, it was seeking approval from a U.K. court for a process known as a «scheme of arrangement» to restructure approximately $8.9 billion in debt. At the time, the company also said that if it failed to obtain court approval, it would seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States. A month later, the company reached an agreement with its creditors.
The plan, which provided for the restructuring of about $5.7 billion of its debt, called for splitting the company into two entities. It also envisioned the Puerto Sandino plant in Nicaragua beginning natural gas-fired power generation in October 2026 as part of an effort to improve the company’s cash flow.
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But New Fortress Energy’s second-quarter 2026 earnings report, covering April through June and filed with the New York Stock Exchange, where its shares are traded, now says the Nicaragua power plant is complete and will begin generating electricity next year.
Power Plant Is Already Built
«Construction of the power plant is substantially complete and we expect to complete construction of the terminal and commission both the terminal and power plant during the first half of 2027,» the report states.
The company is also considering selling electricity through the Regional Electricity Market, known by its Spanish acronym MER.
«As part of our long-term strategy, we are also evaluating solutions to optimize power generation and distribution to other markets connected to our power plant through a regional transmission line,» the report states.
According to the document, although the power plant itself has been completed, some work remains unfinished on the natural gas terminal, part of the infrastructure required to receive and store natural gas, as well as on the pipeline needed to transport the fuel to the generating plant.
Work Remains on Natural Gas Terminal
«We are developing an offshore liquefied natural gas receiving, transshipment and regasification facility in Puerto Sandino, Nicaragua, as well as a pipeline that connects the facility to our Puerto Sandino power plant,» the company said.
The report also reiterated to investors that New Fortress Energy signed a 25-year power purchase agreement, or PPA, with Nicaragua’s electricity distribution companies. To meet the generation commitments under that contract, the company plans to use approximately 57,000 MMBtu of natural gas per day to supply the Puerto Sandino power plant.
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The agreement was signed in February 2020. Representing electricity distributor Disnorte-Dissur were Salvador Mansell, then energy minister and executive president of the National Electricity Transmission Company (Enatrel), and José Antonio Castañeda, president of the Nicaraguan Energy Institute (INE).
The agreement was signed under the secrecy that characterizes the Ortega-Murillo regime, and there has been no official confirmation of the electricity purchase price established in the contract.
Purchase Price Under the Contract Remains Unknown
After the agreement was signed, however, reports emerged that negotiations had centered on a price of about $110 per megawatt-hour, including capacity charges. At the time, the international price for electricity generated with natural gas, including capacity, was around $65 per megawatt-hour.
If $110 was indeed the agreed price, even that substantial margin over the international price was not enough to ensure that the plant would begin operations.
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Energy industry experts have said the price established in the contract may be one reason for the repeated delays at the Puerto Sandino plant. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, natural gas prices soared. Although prices subsequently declined and have recently remained relatively stable, their volatility could still affect the start of generation at Puerto Sandino.
For the plant to begin and sustain operations, the electricity sales price established in the contract and production costs — which depend largely on the price of natural gas — must be aligned sufficiently to make the operation profitable. Otherwise, industry experts say, the company could continue postponing the start of operations at the Puerto Sandino plant.
