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The US FERC said on November 21 it found that the Elba Liquefaction optimization project is not inconsistent with the public interest.
“Therefore, we will grant the applicants’ request and authorize the proposed modifications and increase in liquefaction capacity at the Elba Island LNG terminal to 2.9 mtpa,” the FERC said.
Elba Liquefaction and Southern LNG shall construct and make available for service the proposed project within five years from the date of this order, it said.
ELC and Southern LNG submitted a request to the FERC on April 28, 2023 to amend their original authorizations granted by the regulator in June 2016.
The companies requested this amendment in order to make modifications to the existing liquefaction facilities.
The Elba Island facility has 10 identical movable modular liquefaction units with a capacity of about 2.5 mtpa of LNG.
This is equivalent to about 350 million cubic feet (MMcf) per day of natural gas.
Moreover, the project began full commercial operations in August 2020 and it has a 20-year contract with LNG giant Shell.
Elba is directly connected to Southern LNG, which provides LNG storage, vaporization, and ship loading services.
In 2022, Kinder Morgan sold a 25.5 percent stake in ELC to an undisclosed financial buyer.
The undisclosed financial buyer and Kinder Morgan each hold a 25.5 percent interest, while the latter operates the facility.
Blackstone Credit, a unit of US-based private equity firm Blackstone, holds a 49 percent interest in ELC.
Optimization project
As part of the optimization project, ELC and Southern LNG will improve the liquefaction process at the LNG terminal by reducing the fouling rate in the liquefaction units and the resultant flaring events associated with cold box deriming, and building redundancy and reliability into the terminal and auxiliary facilities.
Specifically, the optimization project consists of modifications at the ten MMLS units, which will include retrofitting the current dehydration systems with adsorbent media and upgrading bed regeneration equipment.
Also, the project includes installation of a new condensate plant, to be co-located with the auxiliary facilities, which will separate the hydrocarbons from water in the effluent stream and stabilize the condensate to an appropriate Reid vapor pressure.
The partners will also install of three new liquid nitrogen vaporizers and associated piping and valves.
According to the two firms, the modifications to the MMLS units and the installation of the condensate plant will reduce cold box fouling, which they argue will increase LNG production, whereas the vaporizers will build redundancy and reliability into the LNG terminal.
The requested amendment will not alter the project’s authorized level of storage capacity; rather, it will increase the authorized export capacity at the LNG terminal to 2.9 mtpa.
ELC and Southern LNG estimate that the additional liquefaction volume will result in up to approximately four additional LNG vessels and up to 52 LNG barges per year visiting the terminal, which would not exceed the current number of ships contemplated by the United States Coast Guard.
The FERC said that Southern LNG holds long-term LNG export authorizations from the US
Department of Energy for domestically produced LNG by vessel to free trade agreement countries and non-FTA countires.
On September 25, 2023, Southern LNG filed a separate application with the DOE/FE, seeking an increase of its total authorized export volume to 158.25 Bcf/y of natural gas to non-FTA countries, to align the authorization with the liquefaction capacity requested in this proceeding, the FERC said.
The DOE/FE is currently evaluating Southern LNG’s application.
