NextDecade halts plans for Rio Grande LNG CCS project

NextDecade said in a statement on Tuesday that its subsidiary Rio Grande LNG withdrew its application at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the CCS project and requested that the FERC terminate the CCS proceeding.

“We appreciate the FERC’s diligence during the review process,” said NextDecade chairman and CEO Matt Schatzman.

“The CCS project at RGLNG is not sufficiently developed to allow FERC review to continue at this time. We remain committed to advancing and lowering the cost of utilizing carbon capture and storage and helping companies reduce their facility emissions and achieving their clean energy goals,” Schatzman said.

Court ruling

This move follows a ruling by a US court regarding the Rio Grande LNG facility.

The US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on August 6 issued an order vacating the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s remand authorization of NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG facility on the grounds that the FERC should have issued a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) during its remand process.

Schatzman recently said that NextDecade is committed to taking all available legal and regulatory actions to ensure that the first phase of its Rio Grande LNG project in Texas will be delivered on time and budget and that FID of trains 4 and 5 will not be unduly delayed.

Rio Grande LNG

In July last year, NextDecade took a final investment decision on the first three Rio Grande LNG tree trains.

Phase 1, with nameplate liquefaction capacity of 17.6 mtpa, has 16.2 mtpa of long-term binding LNG sale and purchase agreements.

NextDecade also recently signed a lump sum turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract with compatriot Bechtel for the construction of the fourth train and related infrastructure at the Rio Grande LNG facility.

The company’s unit Rio Grande LNG Train 4 agreed to pay Bechtel about $4.3 billion for the work under the EPC contract.