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Cheniere revealed this in an amended application filed with FERC on June 6, requesting authorization to construct and operate the Sabine Pass Stage 5 expansion project.
In February last year, Cheniere’s units filed the original application with the regulator for the expansion project with a capacity of up to 20 mtpa, including debottlenecking.
This new application amends Sabine Pass’s application, currently pending, and modifies the previously proposed facilities for the expansion project to optimize its design and reduce potential environmental impacts, according to Cheniere.
The company noted that an earlier design of the Sabine Crossing pipeline was included in the 2024 application, but Sabine Crossing’s portion of that application was voluntarily withdrawn to allow for the further development and modification of the proposed pipeline.
Back to three trains
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass facility currently has a capacity of about 30 mtpa following the launch of the sixth train in February 2022.
In December 2023, Cheniere said it plans to build two instead of three liquefaction trains as part of the Sabine Pass Stage 5 expansion project with an optimized unit/cost footprint.
However, Cheniere said in the amended application that the project now includes the construction of three trains.
According to Cheniere, the project will include the addition of three natural gas liquefaction trains each with a maximum LNG production capacity of about 300 billion cubic feet per year using ConocoPhillips liquefaction technology and one boil-off gas re-liquefaction unit with maximum reliquefaction capacity of approximately 50.0 Bcf/y.
Moreover, Cheniere intends to construct the proposed expansion in two phases.
Phase 1 of the Stage 5 project will include liquefaction Train 7, the BOG re-liquefaction unit, and supporting infrastructure.
This phase will also include the proposed CTPL expansion, which will provide approximately 930,000 dekatherms per day (Dth/d), or approximately 0.9 Bcf per day.
In Phase 2, Cheniere will add Trains 8 and 9 and other related infrastructure, including proposed facilities to allow the loading of LNG onto LNG carriers simultaneously at any two of the three existing marine berths, facilitating an increase in the maximum marine vessels calling at the terminal.
Cheniere noted the project will result in an increase in the maximum marine vessel traffic from the currently authorized 580 LNG carriers per year up to 740 carriers per year, an increase for which the waterway has already been found to be suitable by the US Coast Guard.
$15 billion
Cheniere said it estimates that it will spend approximately $15 billion on the expansion project with about $11.5 billion expected to be spent in Louisiana, Texas, and across the US.
“The applicants propose to commence construction of Phase 1 of the project in late 2026, which will allow first exports of incremental LNG volumes as soon as 2030,” Cheniere said in the application.
Cheniere expects construction of the first phase of the expansion project to take about four-and-a-half years until Train 7 is placed in service.
“If Phase 2 follows immediately after Phase 1, as currently anticipated, construction of the entire SPLNG terminal expansion is projected to take approximately six to seven years,” it said.
To meet this projected construction timeline, Cheniere requests that FERC grant this application and authorize the project by September 2026.
Cheniere’s management previously said that the company aims to take a final investment decision on the expansion project in late 2026 or 2027.
