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Under the terms of the sales and purchase agreement, power firm and LNG trader Jera will purchase 2 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG on a free on board basis at a price indexed to Henry Hub, according to a statement by NextDecade.
NextDecade said the deal remains subject to a positive final investment decision (FID) on Train 5.
“We are pleased to announce Jera, the largest power generator in Japan and a long-established LNG market leader, as a customer for Rio Grande LNG Train 5,” said Matt Schatzman, NextDecade’s chairman and CEO.
“We have seen strong commercial momentum this year for Rio Grande LNG, which is helping us commercialize Train 5 toward a positive FID,” he said.
Fourth and fifth train
French energy giant TotalEnergies recently exercised its option to buy LNG from the planned fourth Rio Grande LNG train.
Under this SPA, TotalEnergies will receive 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG for 20 years on a free-on-board basis at a price indexed to Henry Hub.
With this, NextDecade contracted a total of 4.6 mtpa of LNG from Train 4 on a long-term basis, completing the commercial support needed for FID.
NextDecade is currently building three trains at the site located on the north shore of the Brownsville Ship Channel in south Texas.
In July 2023, NextDecade took the final investment decision on the first three Rio Grande trains and completed a $18.4 billion project financing.
Additionally, the firm closed a joint venture agreement for the first phase, which included approximately $5.9 billion in financial commitments from Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), GIC, Mubadala, and TotalEnergies.
The deal also included options for the fourth and fifth trains.
Phase 1, with a nameplate liquefaction capacity of 17.6 mtpa, has 16.2 mtpa of long-term binding LNG sale and purchase agreements.
Expansion
In addition to these five trains, NextDecade announced plans in March to build up to five more trains at the Rio Grande LNG facility.
NextDecade said it is developing and beginning the permitting process for Trains 6 through 8.
The LNG terminal operator expects these trains to increase its total liquefaction capacity by approximately 18 mtpa once constructed and placed into operation.
