Cheniere Energy has made a final investment decision to move forward with its planned Corpus Christi LNG Trains 8 and 9 and debottlenecking project. The operator has issued a notice to contractor Bechtel Energy to proceed with the construction of the new trains. Trains 8 & 9, a pair of midscale trains with a total liquefaction capacity of more than 3 mtpa, are being built adjacent to the Corpus Christi LNG (CCL) Stage 3 project.
According to Cheniere, CCL Stage 3 is already under construction and comprises seven midscale trains that will add capacity of 10 mtpa in total. Two units are producing LNG, with another two slated to come online by the end of the year.
Once the new trains, expected debottlenecking, and CCL Stage 3 are complete, Cheniere said the whole of Corpus Christi LNG will reach over 30 mtpa in total liquefaction capacity. That milestone is expected later this decade.
“We expect CCL Midscale Trains 8 and 9 to be executed seamlessly with Corpus Christi Stage 3, where Train 1 achieved substantial completion in March, and Train 2 achieved first LNG production this month,” said Jack Fusco, Cheniere’s president and CEO.
Cheniere also updated its run-rate LNG production outlook, reflecting an increase in the combined liquefaction capacity across the Cheniere platform at Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi. The company sees volumes reaching more than 60 mtpa—a more than 10% increase—inclusive of CCL Midscale Trains 8 and 9, CCL Stage 3, and identified debottlenecking opportunities across the platform.
In addition, Cheniere confirmed it is looking at further brownfield liquefaction capacity expansions at both the Corpus Christi and Sabine Pass terminals. These expansions will be executed in a phased approach, starting with initial single-train expansions at each site which, if completed, would grow the company's LNG platform up to approximately 75 mtpa of capacity by the early 2030s.
