Sempra breaks ground on Port Arthur LNG

Sempra Infrastructure, a subsidiary of U.S. major Sempra, has hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the Port Arthur LNG project under development in Jefferson County, Texas.

The company shared the news on social media, expressing its excitement “to continue our unwavering commitment to delivering sustainable energy for a better and brighter future.”

The Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 project is currently under construction and is designed to include two natural gas liquefaction trains, two LNG storage tanks and associated facilities, with a nameplate capacity of approximately 13 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).

Sempra Infrastructure reached the positive final investment decision (FID) for Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 in March 2023 and contracted global engineering, procurement and construction firm Bechtel Energy to build the project.

Over 2.8 million hours of work have been completed since construction began, with no lost-time incidents, Sempra previously reported, adding that the expected commercial operation dates for train 1 and train 2 are 2027 and 2028, respectively.

To remind, in September 2023, Sempra completed the sale of a 42% indirect, non-controlling interest in the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 to investment management company KKR.

At the time, Justin Bird, CEO of Sempra Infrastructure, emphasized: “We remain committed to developing energy infrastructure projects with strong partners to continue growing our portfolio while advancing global decarbonization and energy security.”

In the same month, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the permit authorizing the Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 expansion project, with Sempra stating that the permit marks a major regulatory milestone for a proposed Phase 2 project, including the addition of two liquefaction trains (trains 3 and 4).

The development of the proposed Phase 2 project could increase the total liquefaction capacity of the facility to approximately 26 MTPA, Sempra revealed at the time, noting that the proposed project is also expected to include an additional LNG storage tank and marine berth and would benefit from some of the common facilities currently under construction that were previously approved as part of the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 permitting process.

To note, the Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project is under active marketing and development and is expected to help meet future demand for U.S. LNG supplies expected to serve European, Asian and other global markets as countries look to enhance energy reliability and security and displace coal in power production.