Cheniere begins regulatory process for Corpus Christi expansion
US LNG pioneer Cheniere Energy has started the pre-filing review process for a proposed expansion of its Corpus Christi Liquefaction (CCL) facility that would see the addition of two more midscale liquefaction trains and additional above-ground storage capacity.
In an August 19 filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Cheniere is asking for the commission’s six-month pre-filing review process to begin now, ahead of a formal expansion application in February 2023. Pending that application, construction could begin in October 2024, with completion and commissioning in the second half of 2031.
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“The proposed project would expand the previously approved liquefaction project and Stage 3 project facilities,” Cheniere said in its FERC filing.
The original greenfield CCL facility consists of three liquefaction trains, each rated at 5mn mt/yr, and three above-ground storage tanks, each rated at 160,000 m3. Stage 3 facilities, which Cheniere sanctioned in June, include seven midscale liquefaction trains providing a total of about 10mn mt/yr of LNG production capacity.
The expansion project, Cheniere said, would add two more midscale trains – “near replicates” of the Stage 3 trains – each rated at 1.6mn mt/yr of LNG capacity, and a new above-ground storage tank capable of holding 220,000 m3 of LNG. It would also increase CCL’s authorised loading rate to 22,500 m3/hour from both jetties from 12,000 m3/hour in the original CCL approval.