FERC granted Corpus Christi Liquefaction’s May 6 request to introduce fuel gas to the midscale Train 2 for the Stage 3 project.
“This approval is based on FERC staff inspections and review of the information filed on June 30, 2023, March 25, July 31, August 14, October 17, and 24, November 8, 19, and 22, and December 20, 2024, and May 5, 6, and 23, 2025,” the regulator said.
Cheniere made the final investment decision on the CCL Stage 3 expansion project, worth about $8 billion, in June 2022.
The project includes building seven midscale trains, each with an expected liquefaction capacity of about 1.49 mtpa, adding to the three operational trains, each with a capacity of about 5 mtpa.
In March, Cheniere’s EPC partner, Bechtel, turned over care, custody, and control of CCL Stage 3 Train 1 and associated systems to Cheniere ahead of schedule.
During Cheniere’s first-quarter earnings call on May 8, Cheniere’s CEO, Jack Fusco, said that Cheniere continues to expect the first three trains to be substantially completed by the end of 2025.
“Train 2 is well into the commissioning phase at this point, and I expect to achieve first LNG around the end of this month or early next. We’ve been able to deploy significant lessons learned from our commissioning and early operations of train 1 into train 2 and expect the subsequent trains to benefit from these learnings and efficiencies, as we bring them into operations,” Fusco said.
Two more trains
In addition to this expansion, Cheniere received approval from FERC in March to build two more midscale trains at its Corpus Christi LNG plant.
Cheniere recently sought and won approval from FERC to start site preparation activities for the trains.
The proposed midscale trains 8 and 9 project includes adding two midscale liquefaction trains, each with an expected liquefaction capacity of about 1.49 mtpa, and associated facilities, as well as increasing the authorized loading rate at the terminal’s existing marine berth.
In February, Fusco confirmed that the company still expects to make FID to build two more midscale trains at its Corpus Christi LNG plant this year.
