Freeport LNG Development LP is seeking approval to restart portions of the 15-million tonne/year liquefaction plant on Quintana Island, Tex., that has been idle since a fire shuttered the plant in June 2022 (OGJ Online, June 9, 2022).
In a letter to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) dated Jan. 22, the company said it has “completed repairs, performed safety reviews, revised various procedures, implemented new safety systems, and performed necessary training in order to safely begin to resume initial operations” at the plant.
At last report mid-November, Freeport said reconstruction work necessary to begin initial operations, including utilization of all three liquefaction trains, two LNG storage tanks and one dock, was about 90% complete and was expected to be completed by end-November (OGJ Online, Nov. 9, 2022).
In its Jan. 22 letter, Freeport specifically requests authorization to begin cool down of its Loop 1 transfer piping and reinstate its boil off gas management compressors and associated piping as its initial step to resuming normal operations at the plant.
The company acknowledges any authorization would be limited to the noted actions and that “subsequent approvals would be necessary to begin Loop 1 LNG circulation and ship loading to Dock 1, as well as begin to return the liquefaction trains to operation.”
Freeport is requesting a response from FERC by Jan. 24. No additional timeline was given.
