FERC on Thursday authorized Kinder Morgan Inc. to start service and export operations from its tenth and final unit at the Elba Island liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Georgia.

The move essentially marks the end of the first wave of U.S. LNG export projects that got underway in early 2016 when the first cargo was shipped from Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana. 

Elba, initially designed to import gas, shipped its first export cargo last December. Since then, the facility has been working to bring on all 10 of the movable modular liquefaction systems, smaller units that can be disassembled quickly and moved. 

Unit 2 remains offline, however, after a fire erupted in a mixed refrigerant compressor in May. Kinder spokesperson Katherine Hill said...