NextDecade Finalizes $18 Billion Investment to Construct Largest U.S. LNG Export Facility - gCaptain
NextDecade Finalizes $18 Billion Investment to Construct Largest U.S. LNG Export Facility
Houston-based NextDecade Corporation has announced an $18.4 billion final investment decision to construct the first three liquefaction trains at its Rio Grande LNG terminal, the largest proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in the United States located at the Port of Brownsville, Texas.
The company called the decision the largest greenfield energy project financing in U.S. history, highlighting the importance of LNG and natural gas in the global energy transition.
At full capacity, Rio Grande LNG will produce 27 million metric tonnes of LNG for export. The project includes a large carbon capture and storage component that will aim to capture and permanently store over 5 million metric tonnes of CO2 per year, reducing carbon emissions by over 90%.
Phase 1 has a nameplate liquefaction capacity of 17.6 MTPA and 16.2 MTPA of long-term binding LNG sale and purchase agreements with various companies including TotalEnergies, Shell NA LNG LLC, and ExxonMobil LNG Asia Pacific.
The project is expected to generate over 5,000 jobs and provide a significant boost to the gross domestic product, with an estimated increase of $6 billion in Cameron County, $23 billion in Texas, and up to $35 billion in the United States, according to the company.
“The future of the Rio Grande Valley’s economy begins at the Port of Brownsville,” said Brownsville Navigation District Chairman Esteban Guerra. “This dynamic project, the largest private infrastructure investment in the State of Texas, will provide good-paying jobs and economic growth to the region.”
NextDecade has also issued the notice to proceed (NTP) to Bechtel Energy Inc. (Bechtel) for Phase 1 construction under its lump-sum turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction contracts (EPC).
Global Infrastructure Partners, GIC, Mubadala, and TotalEnergies have committed $5.9 billion for Phase 1, with options to invest in two additional trains and the CCS project. TotalEnergies’ investment in trains 4 and 5 is dependent on exercising their LNG purchase rights.
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Related Knowledge Center: Liquefied natural gas
Driven by plentiful natural gas produced from shale plays, the United States began exporting liquefied natural gas in 2016 when the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana opened and shipped its first cargo. Since then, additional capacity, or trains, have been added to Sabine Pass, and terminals have become operational in Cameron Parish, La.; Hackberry, La.; Cove Point, Md.; and Corpus Christi, Texas. The Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. LNG export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world, behind Australia and Qatar. The tariff war with China has the potential to impact some final investment decisions for additional terminals in the coming months.