Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG ticking items for start-up off the list as US stamps of approval pour in

Venture Global, a U.S. producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) sourced from North American basins, has made inroads in securing all required approvals for its LNG export facility under construction in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.

The U.S. player has received the green light from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for several items that it can now check off its list of required approvals, including the go-ahead to introduce hazardous fluids to the first gas turbine generator (GTG), construct the fire and gas, hazard detection, and shutdown systems, and install the low-pressure elevated flare at the Plaquemines LNG terminal in Louisiana, United States.

These approvals show that Venture Global is making headway in the plant’s commissioning process, inching closer to LNG production, anticipated in mid-2024 with a total export capacity of up to 20 million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa). The 630-acre Plaquemines LNG site on the Mississippi River is an LNG export facility about 20 miles south of New Orleans.

This project is being developed in two phases, previously said to represent approximately $21 billion of investment. In March 2023, Venture Global disclosed the final investment decision (FID) and closing of the $7.8 billion project financing for the second phase of the Plaquemines LNG. The FID for the first phase was taken in May 2022.

The first phase will produce 13.3 mtpa while the second one will raise the capacity bar to reach 20 mtpa. This LNG project envisions up to six pre-treatment trains, 36 0.626 mtpa liquefaction trains, configured in eighteen blocks, three ship loading berths for LNG vessels carrying a capacity of up to 185,000 cubic meters, four 200,000 cubic meter full containment LNG storage tanks, and two 720 MW combined cycle gas turbine power plants, including an additional 25 MW gas-fired aero-derivative turbines.

In addition, there are two 42-inch diameter pipelines, 15 and 12 miles long respectively, to connect to existing interstate natural gas pipelines, and a utility dock on the Mississippi River to handle waterborne deliveries of equipment and material during construction and project operations. Based on mid-scale liquefaction technology, consisting of two electrically-driven 0.626 mtpa trains in each block, with nine blocks for the entire facility, the gas will flow through three acid gas removal and dehydration systems before it enters the liquefiers.

The LNG will be stored in two 200,000 cubic meter full containment storage tanks to optimize the plant output. Designed to deliver approximately 1.9 billion cubic feet (bcf), the proposed Gator Express facilities are anticipated to be constructed in two segments. The first will be an approximately 15-mile long, 42-inch diameter pipeline and appurtenant facilities, to deliver gas to the Plaquemines LNG project from new interconnections with Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company and Texas Eastern Transmission located offshore, southwest of the terminal site.

On the other hand, the second site is seen as a looped section of about 12-mile long, 42-inch diameter pipeline and appurtenant facilities, to deliver additional supplies to the terminal from the interconnection with Texas Eastern Transmission. Venture Global has already lined up several long-term LNG sales and purchase agreements (SPAs) for the Plaquemines project.

While Phase 1 customer list entails PGNiG, part of Orlen, Sinopec, CNOOC, Shell, and EDF, Phase 2 encompasses ExxonMobil, Chevron, EnBW, New Fortress Energy, China Gas, Petronas, and Excelerate Energy. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy gave its blessing to Venture Global Plaquemines LNG to export domestically produced liquefied natural gas from its Plaquemines Parish export facility to non-free trade agreement (FTA) countries in October 2019. 

Thanks to this, Plaquemines LNG is authorized to export up to 1,240 billion cubic feet per year of natural gas (3.4 bcf/day) for 25 years, following the DOE’s previous authorizations to export to FTA countries. Venture Global has two more LNG facilities. While the first one, Calcasieu Pass in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, south of Lake Charles, began producing its first LNG in January 2022, the other, CP2 LNG, received a positive final environmental impact statement (FEIS) from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in July 2023. 

A few months ago, the U.S. player made a move to get a hold of a fleet of nine LNG-powered vessels, currently under construction in South Korea, to advance the integration of its business across the entire LNG supply chain.