Downeast LNG says it hopes to move forward this year with its long-delayed plans to build a $600 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Robbinston, ME.

Dean Girdis, the company’s founder and president, told NGI the import terminal was still in the development phase, but he expected a final environmental impact statement (EIS) from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) “in maybe three or four months.”

The Downeast LNG proposal was first unveiled in 2005, to be built on 80 acres at Mill Cove, near the confluence of Passamaquoddy Bay and the St. Croix River (see Daily GPI, July 13, 2005). The facility would have a single LNG storage tank (160,000 cubic meters capacity), base sendout of 500 MMcf/d and peak sendout of 625 MMcf/d. Girdis said the facility could be expanded to 1 Bcf/d if the market required it.

The project also calls for construction of a marine terminal, a 3,862-foot pier with a single berth, LNG vaporization and processing equipment and a 29.8-mile, 30-inch diameter natural gas pipeline.

Girdis said Downeast LNG and other companies have seen their projects delayed because they based their LNG spill and vapor dispersion modeling on the DEGADIS (Dense Gas Dispersion Model) system, which he said has since been ruled invalid. “Pretty much the whole industry has been delayed with new vapor modeling for LNG spills,” Girdis said Thursday. “New models had to be developed, and it took a significant period of time to develop them. Now all [LNG] projects are in the process of redoing their modeling to meet the new standards.”

Two competing proposals to build LNG import terminals in Maine — by Calais LNG and Quoddy Bay LNG LLC — have since foundered (see Daily GPI, Dec. 16, 2010; Oct. 29, 2008).

Asked if his company’s project was viable, Girdis said, “I think there’s an economic need for it. We need to demonstrate that to FERC. “If you look at the past three years — when we’ve had a lot of shale gas production and lower pricing — New England has become more reliant upon LNG. We’ve moved up from peak winter days of 600 to 700 MMcf/d to upwards of 1.1 Bcf/d.”

Girdis said New England’s growing demand for natural gas was currently being met by the Sable Island Field offshore Nova Scotia and the Everett LNG import terminal in Boston, but he predicted that there would be supply problems as early as 2015. “The demand will need to be met through an alternative source,” Girdis said. “They’re not really drilling for more gas up there [in Nova Scotia].”

Robbinston voters approved the Downeast LNG facility by a 227-83 vote in early 2006 (see Daily GPI, Jan. 13, 2006), but Canadian officials and citizens groups subsequently urged FERC not to approve the project (see Daily GPI, April 12, 2007; Feb. 28, 2007; Feb. 16, 2007; March 13, 2006). FERC later rejected calls by the Canadian province of New Brunswick to halt the project (see Daily GPI, June 5, 2007).

In 2009 the U.S. Coast Guard told FERC that several waterways — specifically Head Harbor Passage, Western Passage and Passamaquoddy Bay — were suitable for LNG marine traffic if recommended risk mitigation measures were implemented (see Daily GPI, Jan. 12, 2009). In 2010 the Coast Guard said the St. Croix River and the approaches to the Bay of Fundy from the Atlantic Ocean and Grand Manan Channel from the Gulf of Maine were also suitable (see Daily GPI, Sept. 24, 2010).

FERC issued a draft environmental review in favor of the Downeast LNG project in May 2009 (see Daily GPI, May 19, 2009).

Head Harbor Passage is considered by many to be the most dangerous waterway in eastern Canada. The Western Passage is an inlet off of the Bay of Fundy just north of Eastport, ME. The Passamaquoddy Bay also is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between Maine and New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River.

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