HOUSTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - U.S. energy company New

Fortress Energy ( NFE ) plans to load the first cargo of

liquefied natural gas (LNG) at its floating facility in Mexico

this month, to be shipped to another Mexican port for power

generation, the company said on Friday.

CONTEXT

The LNG facility located in Altamira, off Mexico's Atlantic

Coast, is scheduled to conclude commissioning and its

preproduction run on Aug. 9, after long delays for completing

the necessary infrastructure, and begin natural gas processing.

The first cargo, to be carried by Marshall Islands-flagged

LNG vessel Energos Princess, will be a partial load for delivery

to NFE's La Paz terminal in the following days, the company

said.

NFE's newly operational La Paz facility, in the port of

Pichilingue in Baja California Sur, will supply natural gas to

two power plants and other customers in Mexico.

After the first load, the floating LNG facility will undergo

a scheduled maintenance outage of several days before resuming

operations to reach full production later in August.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

Mexico is a massive importer of U.S. natural gas and has

regasification plants to import LNG. NFE's 1.4 million-ton-per-

year Altamira facility is the first built to export LNG, with

feedgas coming from Mexico and the United States.

QUOTE

"Being able to supply our customers with our own LNG has

been a goal for the company for many years," said Wes Edens,

Chairman and CEO of NFE, in a statment.