SUEZ Energy North America’s subsidiary, Calypso LNG LLC said Wednesday that the United States Coast Guard has deemed complete its application for a Deepwater Port License for the company’s proposed offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility to be located off the southeastern coast of Florida.

Calypso said a notice of application will be published in the Federal Register which will start a statutory review period for approval of a license to build and operate the project. The Calypso Deepwater Port is proposed to be located approximately 10 miles offshore from Port Everglades, FL and will comprise a marine offloading buoy and anchoring system that will reside approximately 150 feet below the ocean surface when not in use.

The port will connect to an undersea pipeline operated by another SUEZ subsidiary, Calypso U.S. Pipeline LLC, which has the capacity to transport approximately 800 MMcf/d of natural gas to customers in Florida (see Daily GPI, May 18).

“The receipt of the Coast Guard’s letter is an important project milestone because it sets in motion a defined timetable for the regulatory review process,” said SUEZ Energy North America CEO Zin Smati. “We can now be confident that the project will remain on schedule so we are ready to be the first project to deliver an important new source of energy to the Florida market in early 2010.”

Calypso said that besides being a new source of energy, the design of the deepwater port brings an added measure of reliability to Florida customers, who have experienced prolonged service disruptions due to impacts of major hurricanes that typically hit the region each year. The company noted that LNG vessels can disconnect from the deepwater port to move out of harm’s way during severe weather and then reconnect to the undersea unloading lines as soon as a major storm has moved out of the area.

The Calypso port is similar to one currently under development by another SUEZ subsidiary, Neptune LNG LLC (see Daily GPI, Feb. 13). The Neptune Deepwater Port will be located off the coast of Massachusetts to serve Boston and the greater New England market. Development of this off-shore installation is within schedule and is targeted to be up and running in 2009.

“Developing a new LNG project is a complex and lengthy undertaking,” said SUEZ Energy International CEO Dirk Beeuwsaert. “The Calypso and Neptune Deepwater Ports will be located in close proximity to the markets they are designed to serve and will be operated with sensitivity to their respective marine environments.”

SUEZ owns and operates LNG facilities on each side of the Atlantic Ocean — at Everett, Massachusetts, serving the New England market, and at Zeebrugge, Belgium, serving the central European market.

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