Pilot LNG Plans Texas Bunker Port
Pilot LNG, a US infrastructure development company, said July 16 it had filed regulatory applications for its proposed Galveston LNG Bunker Port in Texas, the region’s first dedicated facility to provide LNG as a marine fuel.
The bunker port, planned for Pelican Island, would serve the ports of Houston, Texas City and Galveston. The company expects to take a final investment decision on the project in Q4 2021, with operations starting in Q4 2024.
“Pilot LNG’s Galveston LNG Bunker Port will provide clean-burning LNG to one of the US’s largest port complexes,” Pilot LNG CEO Jonathan Cook said. “The proposed Galveston LNG Bunker Port would provide the necessary infrastructure to supply the growing market for LNG marine fuel, substantially reducing marine emissions and cutting shippers’ fuel costs at the same time.”
The facility infrastructure will be designed around floating liquefaction (FLNG) technology to be engineered, and constructed by Pilot LNG’s partner, Wison Offshore & Marine.
“Since delivering the world’s first FLNG facility currently operating in Argentina, Wison has developed numerous floating solutions across the LNG value chain, with a focus on promoting a cleaner energy infrastructure alternative to the global market,” said Vivian Li, head of Wison Offshore & Marine in North America.
The FLNG barge will have the capacity to liquefy 66mn ft3/day of natural gas to yield 0.5mn mt/yr of LNG, fed by a 2.8-mile extension of Energy Transfer’s existing Houston Pipeline System serving Pelican Island. Storage capacity is rated at 18,000 m3.
Regulatory applications were filed with several relevant government agencies, including the US Army Corps of Engineers, the lead permitting agency.