US LNG firm New Fortress Energy has started producing liquefied natural gas at its first FLNG project off Altamira, Mexico.
NFE announced on Friday that it has achieved first LNG for its initial Fast LNG asset.
With this, the project establishes itself as the “fastest large-scale LNG project ever developed,” NFE claims.
NFE’s proprietary Fast LNG design pairs the latest advancements in modular liquefaction technology with jack up rigs or similar offshore infrastructure to enable a faster deployment schedule than traditional liquefaction facilities.
The company said the FLNG project adds more than $2 billion of infrastructure to its asset base.
NFE sent its liquefaction rig Pioneer II on September 26, 2023 to Altamira to start serving the FLNG project.
Prior to this, NFE’s utilities and accommodation rig, Pioneer III, arrived off Altamira, as well as the gas treatment rig.
The FLNG project consists of three rigs, Pioneer I, II, and III.
Besides the three rigs, the 160,000-cbm Penguin FSU serves the project as a floating storage unit.
NFE’s first 1.4 mtpa FLNG asset located offshore Altamira reached mechanical completion in January this year.
The company said on June 14 that it expects to achieve first LNG in the next 10 days and to deliver the first cargo in July. Prior to that, NFE delayed the launch of the project several times.
NFE did not say in the new statement when it expects to ship the first LNG cargo.
According to its AIS data provided by VesselsValue, the 138,000-cbm Energos Princess was on Saturday located at the Penguin FSU.
Wes Edens, chairman and CEO of NFE said first LNG at the Altamira project represents a “transformative moment for our company and the industry as a whole.”
“We are immensely proud of the dedication and hard work by our team, who have completed more than 9 million work hours, to bring this large-scale project to life at a record pace,” he said.
