By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, July 12 -- Dynegy Inc., Houston, Thursday said it plans to build a liquefied natural gas receiving and regasification terminal in Hackberry, La., on the site of the company's existing liquefied petroleum gas terminal.
The LNG facility will be capable of receiving and processing 750 MMcfd of LNG. It will be expandable to 1.5 bfcd. Dynegy expects to begin the first phase of commercial operation by the end of 2003, representing an 18 to 24-month time-to-market savings, with full capacity available by early 2004.
Chuck Watson, Dynegy chairman and CEO, said, "Demand for natural gas in the US and around the globe is growing steadily due to our increased reliance on natural gas as the preferred fuel for electric generation facilities. This terminal will be an important addition to our ever-expanding energy delivery network in the US and will allow us to participate in a growing global LNG trade to meet our customers' energy needs."
The Hackberry site was operated as an LPG terminal by Trident and acquired by Dynegy in 1995. The terminal has access to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Basin and will have the ability to connect to a number of natural gas pipelines that reach most major natural gas markets in the US.
Dynegy will add one LNG tank and vaporization facilities to the Hackberry site. It said the fact that the Hackberry site is developed would enable the facility to be operational 2-3 years sooner than a greenfield project could be.
Construction on the Hackberry LNG facility will create 650 jobs. After full commercial operation is achieved, the facility will employ 16-20 new permanent employees.
Dynegy has completed a feasibility and detailed engineering analysis at Hackberry and is working to obtain necessary permits from state and federal agencies.
