Rio Grande LNG Phase 1 on schedule, Train 4 FID expected 2H 2024

Work on NextDecade Corp.’s 27-million tonne/year (tpy) Rio Grande LNG plant in Brownsville, Tex., is “progressing according to plan,” the company said in a release May 9. Matt Schatzman, NextDecade’s chairman and chief executive officer, added that “as concrete foundation pours for Train 1 are ongoing, key materials such as piping and structural steel have been delivered to the site, and shoreline work and levee construction are underway.”

Rio Grande LNG will use 5 trains, with Trains 1-3 (Phase 1) expected to enter service in 2027, at a total total nameplate capacity of 17.61 million tpy (OGJ Online, Aug. 7, 2023). Phase 1 will also include two 180,000-cu m full containment LNG storage tanks, and two jetty berthing structures designed to load LNG carriers up to 216,000 cu m in capacity.

The company expects to reach a positive final investment decision on Train 4 in second-half 2024 and for TotalEnergies SE to exercise its option to purchase 1.5 million tpy of Train 4’s production. Schatzman noted that NextDecade is also in commercial discussions “with numerous additional counterparties” for output from Train 4.

NextDecade said it expects to finalize the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract with Bechtel Energy Inc. for Train 4 by the end of second-quarter 2024. Bechtel is Rio Grande LNG’s Phase 1 EPC contractor.

Overall project completion percentage for Trains 1 and 2 and common plant infrastructure is 18.2%, in line with the schedule under the EPC contract. Within this project completion percentage, engineering was 54.9% complete, procurement was 34.4% complete, and construction 1.9% complete.

The overall project completion percentage for Train 3 was 6.9%, based on preliminary schedules, which is also in line with the schedule under the EPC contract. Within this project completion percentage, engineering was 5.2% complete, procurement was 16.7% complete, and construction 0.0% complete.