Commonwealth LNG LLC has received US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval for its 8.4-million tonne/year (tpy) liquefaction plant in Cameron Parish, La. The company filed its application in August 2019 and expects to begin shipments from the plant in third-quarter 2026.
Commonwealth plans to begin preliminary site work on the side of the Calcasieu Ship Channel near the Gulf of Mexico in early 2023, with final investment decision targeted for third-quarter 2023. The project will include:
- Six 1.4 million tpy liquefaction trains, each with a 60-Mw gas turbine with mechanical drive.
- Six 50,000 cu m full-containment LNG storage tanks.
- A single berth with the capacity to service vessels as large as 216,000 cu m.
- A potable water supply line from existing municipal water systems.
- A 180-Mw simple-cycle electric power generator for auxiliary loads, including emergency and back-up systems.
- Various buildings and structures.
- A 3.04-mile, 42-in. OD natural gas pipeline with tie-ins (including metering and emergency shut-off systems) at EnLink Bridgeline Holdings LP’s existing 12- and 20-in. OD pipelines and Kinetica Partners LLC’s 16-in. OD Kinetica pipeline.
- An interconnection to the LNG terminal, including a pig receiver, separator, liquid storage, custody transfer meters, pressure regulators, emergency shutdown valves, and gas analyzers.
The plant will have a peak liquefaction capacity of up to 9.5 million tpy and the pipeline will be capable of delivering 1.44 bcfd.
The Department of Energy (DOE) in 2020 authorized Commonwealth to export 9.5 million tpy for 25 years to nations with which the US has a free trade agreement (FTA). Commonwealth’s application to export to non-FTA nations is pending with DOE.
