Elba LNG Unit 9 In-Service, Approval Sought For #10
Elba Liquefaction Co told the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc) August 3 it had placed the ninth movable modular liquefaction system (MMLS) unit at its Elba Liquefaction project in Georgia in service on July 27 and has petitioned the commission for approval to place the tenth unit into service on August 10.
Unit #10 will be the ninth MMLS unit in-service at Elba since Ferc approved the $2bn project in June 2016 and construction began the following November. Unit #7 is currently undergoing commissioning work – on July 31, Ferc was asked to allow the introduction of hazardous fluids to the unit.
Each MMLS unit at Elba Liquefaction – a brownfield development adjacent to an existing import and regasification terminal on Elba Island near Savannah owned by Kinder Morgan’s Southern LNG Co – processes 35mn ft3/day of natural gas. The entire 2.5mn mt/yr of LNG produced at the facility has been contracted to Anglo-Dutch major Shell – which owns the MMLS technology – under a 20-year sales and purchase agreement.
The Elba Liquefaction Project was first advanced in 2013 by Shell (with a 49% equity interest) and its joint venture partner Kinder Morgan, which held 51%. Kinder Morgan acquired Shell’s interest in the project in July 2015 for $630mn and in February 2017 sold it to investment funds managed by EIG Global Energy Partners for $385mn.