FERC has approved the request of Southern LNG Co. LLC and Elba Express Co. LLC (EEC) to use the agency’s pre-filing process for their planned Elba export liquefaction and related expansion projects.

The two companies provided supplemental information on the project on Feb. 25 after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) determined that their initial pre-filing request, filed on Dec. 5, was insufficient. In a Dec. 14 letter, FERC told Southern LNG that “we will consider your request to initiate pre-filing once the companies fully comply with the procedures outlined in the Commission’s regulation.”

The companies plan to construct and operate a two-phased liquefaction/liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project at the existing Elba LNG import terminal in Chatham County near Savannah, GA. The projects would involve: liquefaction facilities to support production and export of up to 350 MMcf/d at the Elba terminal; installation of up to 16,000 hp of compression at the existing Hartwell Compressor Station in Hart County, GA; and construction of a new 11,000 hp compressor station and about 1,000 feet of interconnecting pipeline in Jefferson County, GA.

Southern LNG and EEC have indicated that they intend to file an application for a certificate in December.

While the Department of Energy (DOE) has yet to decide whether to approve widespread exports of LNG supplies to global markets, it has handicapped the field of proposed projects should it decide to proceed (see NGI, Feb. 18). First in line are eight of the 23 project proposals received by DOE that already had filed with FERC when DOE released its report on Dec. 5 saying that exporting domestically sourced liquefied natural gas (LNG) would generate a net benefit to the economy (see NGI, Dec. 10, 2012).

Christopher A. Smith, the Obama administration’s point man on LNG exports, has indicated that DOE plans to act on non-free trade agreement LNG export applications on a “first come, first serve basis,” and added that “priority [will be given] to those that have already pre-filed” with FERC.

Based on that edict, eight projects — five on the Gulf Coast, two in Oregon and one in Maryland — would go to the head of the line for consideration Five of the eight are well into FERC’s pre-filing process, which attempts to iron out environmental issues, and three have completed pre-filing and have formally filed for certificates. If all eight were to be approved, the export capacity would total 12.3 Bcf/d, a fraction of the 31 Bcf/d capacity in DOE’s 23 pending projects.

Southern LNG’s Elba project and another project sponsored by Gulf LNG Liquefaction Company LLC, submitted applications to enter the pre-filing process on the day the report was released, but were told by the Commission their applications were incomplete.

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