Annova LNG LLC made a pre-filing review request at FERC Wednesday for its proposed “mid-scale” liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal at the Port of Brownsville, TX.

The Houston-based unit of Exelon Generation said the Annova LNG Brownsville Project would give Exelon the opportunity to diversify its business “in an area that shows strong growth potential: natural gas exports.

“Exploring LNG exports is a natural evolution of Exelon’s diversification strategy,” said Exelon CEO Ken Cornew. “The U.S. offers some of the most competitive supplies of natural gas in the world, and this project provides Exelon an opportunity to continue the growth of our wholesale gas businesses.”

The terminal would sit beside the Brownsville Ship Channel on 650 acres designated by the Port of Brownsville for industrial use. The proposed site is about eight miles from the Gulf of Mexico in Cameron County, TX. “Brownsville is an ideal location for this potential facility,” said Annova President David Chung. The terminal could be online by 2020. A decision whether to proceed with the project is expected by the end of 2017.

The site could accommodate six liquefaction trains, each with capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) for a total of 6 mtpa. Such a “mid-scale” LNG terminal serves a niche market of customers needing smaller LNG deliveries for reasons such as smaller port facilities or lower import requirements, the company said.

“Natural gas supply for the project will be [transported] via the BND South Delivery Header from the Isla Grande Pipeline, a planned non-jurisdictional, intrastate pipeline system,” the company said in its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission filing.

Annova made its U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) export authorization filing for the project in 2013 (see Daily GPI, Oct. 10, 2013). Last July, DOE approved an Annova affiliate for 7 mtpa of exports to free trade agreement (FTA) countries.

Others have proposed LNG terminals for the Port of Brownsville.

NextDecade LLC recently said it had doubled the acreage in its earlier lease agreement with the port to grow the site for its proposed Rio Grande LNG export terminal to 1,000 acres (see Daily GPI, March 9). Last year, Texas LNG LLC received DOE FTA export authorization for its planned Brownsville terminal (see Daily GPI, June 12, 2014). Gulf Coast LNG Export LLC also has proposed a terminal for Brownsville (see Daily GPI, Oct. 24, 2012).