Duke Energy Corp.’s Piedmont Natural Gas announced recently that the utility has selected Matrix Service Inc. to construct a 1 Bcf liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage facility in Robeson County, NC.

The facility, which was first announced last summer, would more reliably supply “natural gas during peak usage days, when extremely low temperatures create a higher-than-normal demand for natural gas,” said management of subsidiary of Matrix Service Co.

The $250 million LNG storage facility is to take up 60 acres of a 685-acre Piedmont-owned property. The facility was first projected to commence construction in May, but it should now be starting sometime this month, a Piedmont spokeswoman told NGI. It is expected to be completed during the summer of 2021.

“As an industry leader in low-temperature and cryogenic tanks and terminals, we are very pleased to have been awarded this important project,” said Matrix CEO John R. Hewitt.

Piedmont said the LNG storage project is expected to create 150 jobs during construction and 10-12 full-time positions to manage operations once the facility enters service. The project could also provide at least $800,000 annually in tax revenue for Robeson County, the company said.

The facility would be the fourth LNG facility operated by Piedmont, which has other projects in Nashville, TN; Bentonville, NC, and Huntersville, NC. Piedmont serves more than one million residential, commercial and industrial customers, and has power plants in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.