Freeport LNG Development LP (FLNG), Houston, has begun producing LNG from Train 1 at its plant on Quintana Island in Freeport, Tex. McDermott International Inc. along with its engineering and construction partners, Chiyoda International Corp. and Zachry Group, said loading of FLNG’s first cargo is expected later this month.
Trains 2 and 3 remain on track to meet previously announced schedules, the partners said, with Train 2 initial production scheduled for this year’s fourth quarter and Train 3 initial production for first-quarter 2020. Total planned capacity is 15 million tonnes/year.
Zachry Group, as the joint venture lead, partnered with McDermott for pre-front-end engineering and design work in 2011, followed by FEED works to support early development of Trains 1 and 2. Later Chiyoda joined the JV and the joint team provided engineering, procurement, and facility construction as well as commissioning and initial operations for Train 3. Project scope includes three pretreatment trains, a liquefaction plant with three trains, a second loading berth, and a 165,000-cu m full containment LNG storage tank.
FLNG is developing a fourth train, which would bring the plant’s total capacity to 20 million tpy. Train 4 is awaiting regulatory approval, but FLNG hopes to have it in service by 2021.