More than two years after they announced the project, backers of the NEXUS Gas Transmission system have submitted their application for pre-filing review at FERC.

The move comes as the proposed 250-mile pipeline that would pair growing supplies of Appalachian natural gas with markets in the upper Midwest and Canada faces staunch opposition from groups in several counties across Ohio and parts of Michigan, where construction is tentatively planned (see Shale Daily, Sept. 5, 2012).

Spectra Energy Corp., DTE Energy and Enbridge Inc. are behind the project, with Spectra and DTE taking the lead. The pipeline is being designed with a capacity of 1.5 Bcf/d. In its pre-filing, NEXUS said it has signed precedent agreements for “the majority of the capacity to be created.”

The system will consist primarily of greenfield pipeline, 200 miles of which will run through 11 Ohio counties, where the project has faced the most resistance from groups already organizing against it in five counties (see Shale Daily, Dec. 19, 2014). Some landowners approached for survey work by NEXUS want the pipeline rerouted to a less inhabited area, but a Nexus spokesman told NGI’s Shale Daily last month that about 60% of the system will make use of existing rights-of-way. Another 50 miles of that 42-inch diameter pipeline will be constructed in three Michigan counties, according to the pre-filing application.

The project will also utilize existing firm capacity and planned expansions on the Texas Eastern Transmission pipeline (Tetco) in Ohio and Pennsylvania; the DTE Gas Transportation system in eastern Michigan and the Vector Pipeline in southern and eastern Michigan. NEXUS will originate in Kensington, OH, and extend to the DTE transportation system west of Detroit.

An expansion on Tetco will allow shippers to access gas supplies south of Kensington where the system commences. A lateral will also be constructed linking M3 Midstream LLC’s plant in Kensington to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline for further access as well.

NEXUS will also construct four new gas turbine compressors in Ohio and four new metering and regulating stations in Ohio and Michigan.

In all, the project survey study corridor will affect 3,479 tracts of land along the proposed route. NEXUS said it had been granted survey permission on 2,505 tracts, representing 72% of the proposed right-of-way required to be surveyed. On its website, NEXUS said it expects to file its formal application for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval in the fourth quarter. It expects an in-service date in late 2017.