LNG

US pipeline company Kinder Morgan said it would start-up its Elba Island LNG export plant in Georgia in late April after receiving regulatory permission in early March to introduce feed-gas, back-up fuel and boil-off gas into its systems comprising 10 small-scale liquefaction Trains.

Kinder Morgan said it had expected the first train to come on line by the end of March and the remaining Trains following during the year.

However, the project has been hit by minor construction delays. The start-up had previously been expected by the end of 2018.

“Kinder Morgan has revised its initial in-service date expectations for the Elba Liquefaction Project as a result of delays during construction,” said the company.

“The first unit of the project is now expected to be in commercial service in late April,” it added.

Elba Island is an existing import terminal that has been transformed into an export plant to produce an initial 2.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG.

Kinder Morgan, based in Houston, has developed the plant at a cost of just $2 billion and will have feed-gas needs equivalent to around 350 million cubic feet per day.

The Georgia terminal is among three US liquefaction facilities that are expected to begin service in 2019, adding to the country's growing energy export industry.

Start-ups for Elba Island, Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG in Louisiana and the Freeport plant in Texas would double the number of US LNG export terminals in operation.

The Cameron and Freeport projects have also been delayed by holds ups and problems in construction.

According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the liquefaction Trains 1-6 at Elba Island are expected to start entering service at one-month intervals.

Elba Island’s Trains 7-10 are then scheduled to come on stream in the third quarter of 2019.

The Georgia project is supported by a 20-year supply contract with Royal Dutch Shell.

The coming on stream of Elba Island on the east Coast follows the shipping of the first cargo a year ago from the Cove Point in Maryland on Chesapeake Bay, operated by Dominion Energy.

The two Cheniere Energy plants on the Gulf Coast at Sabine Pass in Louisiana and Corpus Christi in Texas give the US four operational export plants and five when Cameron LNG starts in the weeks ahead.

US pipeline and storage company Kinder Morgan said it expected the first Train of its Elba Island LNG export plant near Savannah in Georgia to come on stream in the first quarter of 2019 while the company was also benefitting from the feed-gas needs at other liquefaction ventures.

Kinder Morgan, the US pipeline and terminals company, said its LNG export project at Elba Island near Savannah in the state of Georgia is running slightly behind schedule, though a start-up is anticipated for the fourth quarter of 2018.

Kinder Morgan, the US pipeline company, has received permission from US regulators to advance with further work on storage for its export project at Elba Island near Savannah in the state of Georgia.

The Elba Island LNG export project in the US state of Georgia, where Royal Dutch Shell will be the main customer, has now received permits from the US Department of Energy authorizing shipments of cargoes to all destinations.

Kinder Morgan, the largest US pipeline and terminal company, has named Omaha, Nebraska-based company HDR as owner’s engineer for its Elba Island liquefaction and export project at the existing import terminal near Savannah, Georgia.

US pipeline giant and liquefied natural gas project developer, Kinder Morgan, is expanding its fleet of Jones Act product tankers for domestic trading to 16 as it awaits four new product tankers capable of being converted to LNG propulsion.