Excelerate Energy LP's Northeast Gateway Deepwater Terminal, about 13 miles offshore Boston, reported that it reached a peak send-out rate of more than 800,000 MMbtu/d of regasified LNG a week earlier. The Feb. 1 volume was a record for the facility, officials said.
Demand for natural gas from residential customers rises during the coldest days each winter in New England. Historically, during these times, gas deliverability becomes constrained, and electric power generators have been forced to use other petroleum-based fuels, they said.
The terminal, which The Woodlands, Tex.-based company commissioned in 2008, is designed to respond to local market conditions in real-time and can ramp up service to ensure energy providers meet customer demand, the company said. The high flow rate represents the average gas demand of New England power generators during recent January-February periods.
The operation was completed by two of Excelerate’s floating storage regasification units (FSRU)—Exemplar and Express—discharging in parallel through Excelerate’s proprietary offshore buoys.
Excelerate said the terminal consists of a dual submerged turret-loading buoy system that allows for the connection of FSRUs that have been designed specifically to meet the challenging conditions of the North Atlantic.
In all aspects, FSRUs act like a land-based terminal and have the onboard capability to vaporize LNG and deliver gas directly to the existing subsea HubLine Pipeline operated by Enbridge Inc.’s Algonquin Gas Transmission subsidiary.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].
