The Gas Co. LLC, Hawaii’s only government-franchised full-service gas company, has filed an application to operate facilities so that it can receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) sourced from natural gas produced in the continental U.S.

The Honolulu-based company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Macquarie Infrastructure Co., is seeking authorization to operate facilities that “will be used to receive, unload, load, store, transport, gasify or process natural gas that is sourced on the continental U.S. and transported by waterborne vessel to Hawaii.” The application applies solely to the first phase of what will be a three-phase project, the firm said. It noted that it will seek authorizations for the Phase II and Phase III facilities in subsequent applications at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Phase I of the project would include a fleet of up to 20 40-foot cryogenic intermodal containers that will be transported to Hawaii on common carrier cargo vessels, existing facilities or secured lots on the company’s premises that will be used to store containers for short periods of time, and mobile LNG vaporization/regasification units that will be used to inject gas into the company’s distribution pipeline or directly into an end-use customer’s facilities.

The firm said the overall objective of its three-phased LNG strategy is to “ultimately develop the facilities necessary to supply gas for up to 75% of its customers’ requirements, and [to] provide fuel for up to 400 MW of power generation facilities and for industrial and other commercial applications.” It has asked FERC to issue an order approving the Phase I application by Nov. 7.

“Hawaii is the most petroleum-dependent state in the United States. However the company recognizes that the decline in natural gas prices, the potential expansion of the LNG trade throughout the Pacific region, and advances in storage, shipper and distribution technology together provide a unique opportunity to introduce an alternative fuel into Hawaii,” the company said.

“LNG delivered to the Hawaii Islands can diversify and displace the expensive naphtha-based feedstock that has been used to make synthetic natural gas (SNG) in the state for the past 38 years. In addition, delivered LNG can displace the diesel and low-sulfur fuel oil that has been used to fuel power generation and the refining industry for more than a century.”

The Gas Co. produces and supplies gas energy to consumers, businesses and government customers in Hawaii. The company produces SNG from imported petroleum byproducts and supplies it through a pipeline network to commercial and residential utility customers. It also imports, refines, and supplies liquefied petroleum gas to commercial and residential utility, and non-utility customers.

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