Eyeing regional markets, the backers of Oregon’s only proposed coastal liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal told state regulators Thursday that the Jordan Cove LNG Project seeks broad interconnections with interstate natural gas pipelines traversing the area and gas storage in northern California, Washington and Oregon. The $500 million facility is slated for Coos Bay along the Pacific Coast in south-central Oregon.

Along with supporting a new transmission pipeline from the site and onsite electric generation, Jordan Cove intends to process natural gas liquids and ship them by rail to markets throughout the West. Bob Braddock, project manager, briefed the Oregon Public Utility Commission at a natural gas outlook meeting in Salem, OR.

“Interconnectivity and storage access are absolutely critical to attracting long-term (20-year) stable supplies,” Braddock said.

Hoped for are connections with Williams’ Northwest Pipeline, Avista Corp.’s transmission pipeline, along with the TransCanada (old Pacific Gas Transmission) pipeline from western Canada and the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. transmission backbone system at the Oregon-California border at Malin, OR, Braddock said.

Jordan Cove Energy Project L.P. is proposing to build a new, state-of-the-art LNG import terminal that will be located in the now-developing International Port of Coos Bay in Coos County, OR, jointly owned by Fort Chicago Energy Partners, L.P. and Energy Projects Development, LLC. Fort Chicago is a 50% owner of the Alliance Pipeline from western Canada into Chicago.

The terminal itself will be typical of what is being proposed for other sites throughout the state and nation, but Jordan Cove will add several features, Braddock said, including a 37 MW gas-fired power plant to provide all of the terminal’s electricity needs and to sell excess into the grid. The plant will be in a local area that has had reliability problems in the past because of its remoteness to the main western grid power lines. Waste heat from the power plant operations will be used in the regasification of the LNG.

In addition, Jordan Cove is partnering with PG&E to sponsor the proposed 223-mile Pacific Connector natural gas transmission pipeline from Coos Bay to the California-Oregon border. This is intended to give the project access to all major interstate pipelines in the West and to storage in the Sacramento Valley, Mist, OR, and Jackson Prairie, WA.

When built, the facility will be capable of receiving the equivalent of 1 Bcf/d of LNG supplies. “Significant economic benefits to the local economy will result from the construction and operation of this $500 million facility, including substantial increases in property tax revenues, the addition of up to 60 permanent jobs and investment in local energy and maritime infrastructure to support the operation of the Project and other new industry, Braddock said.

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