Wes Edens-led New Fortress Energy is continuing to boost its LNG business and now has revealed intentions to build a floating liquefaction unit.
The US firm said on Monday it made a final investment decision on a solution called “Fast LNG”.
This move comes just months after the firm revealed a $5 billion deal to buy two Golar units.
The modular liquefaction facility will have 1.4 million tonnes per annum capacity in order to provide a “low-cost supply” of liquefied natural gas for its growing customer base, the firm said.
In addition, the design pairs the “latest advancements” in modular, midsize liquefaction technology with jack-up rigs or similar floating infrastructure, NFE said.
Furthermore, this infrastructure would enable a “much lower cost and faster deployment schedule than today’s floating liquefaction vessels,” it said.
A permanently moored FSU will serve as an LNG storage facility alongside the floating liquefaction infrastructure as well.
Trio gets limited notice to proceed
NFE said it has issued a limited notice to proceed to Fluor, Chart Industries but also Baker Hughes for the construction of the first “Fast LNG” project.
US LNG equipment manufacturer Chart said in a separate statement its order for the project has a price tag of $47 million. The firm will supply process technology, heat exchangers, cold boxes, but also heavy hydrocarbon removal system.
NFE expects the project to become operational in about 20 months.
“Our innovative Fast LNG liquefiers should allow us to produce LNG between an expected $3-4 MMBtu for our growing portfolio of terminals around the world,” said NFE CEO and Chairman Wes Edens.
Edens said NFE can install this technology “quickly and cheaply” to access stranded, low-cost natural gas at a fixed price to meet the global demand for more “affordable, reliable and cleaner” energy.
“Alongside our terrific partners, we look forward to deploying one of the world’s lowest-cost LNG production facilities by 2022,” he said.