Kinder Morgan said it expects to bring the remaining nine units of its Elba Island LNG export facility in Georgia into service by the first half of 2020, according to a new Reuters report.
The first train from the project began producing LNG for export in September, following approval by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and is nearing its first cargo export. Startup has been affected by a few delays over the past year, with the most recent coming from the mandatory evacuation of and subsequent inspection of the facility following Hurricane Dorian. Elba Island is expected to have a total liquefaction capacity of approximately 2.5 mtpa from 10 liquefaction units.
Kinder Morgan CEO Steven Kean said in an earnings call that it plans to bring three more trains into service by the end of 2019, with the remaining six coming on stream in 2020.
Shell has a 20-year contract to be the lone buyer of LNG from the Elba Island Facility. Kinder Morgan owns 51% of the project, while investment funds managed by EIG Global Energy Partners make up the remaining 49% interest.
The $2-billion project will use Movable Modular Liquefaction System (MMLS) trains using proprietary technology from Shell. The trains will connect to Kinder Morgan’s existing regasification terminal at Elba Island, which has been modified to receive LNG from the new liquefaction facilities.