With Enron’s Bahamas LNG project on the rocks because of the bankruptcy and no sign yet of El Paso’s LNG plans, AES took the lead spot last month in the race to build a liquefied natural gas import terminal in the Bahamas with a pipeline to Florida. The company filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the $440 million Ocean Express pipeline.

The 52-mile pipeline, 46 miles of which would be subsea facilities, would bring gas to Broward County, FL, from the proposed terminus of a 40-mile non-jurisdictional line at the Exclusive Economic Zone boundary between the United States and the Bahamas. AES said the pipeline would extend to interconnections with Florida Gas Transmission and Florida Power & Light’s distribution system near the Fort Lauderdale power plant. The 24-inch diameter pipeline is expected to transport 842,000 Dth/d of gas.

Following an open season in which two potential customers bid for capacity, affiliate AES LNG Marketing signed a contract for 800,000 Dth/d.

AES requested that it receive a preliminary determination on the project by July and a final certificate by March 2003. If FERC can meet that aggressive schedule, the company said it could obtain financing and have the project in service by the summer of 2004. AES said construction of the LNG import terminal and vaporization facilities in Ocean Cay, Bahamas, is expected to take 24 to 28 months. If FERC can’t meet that schedule, however, and is unable to issue a certificate until March 2003, completion of the project would be delayed until March 2005.

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