Project Profile
Estimated Value: US$400 million
Location: Virginia, USA
Capacity: 1.5 billion cubic feet a day
Start-up Year: Year: 2012
AES Sparrows Point LNG, LLC, which is owned by AES Corporation (headquarters in Arlington, Virginia), has put forward a project to construct and operate a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) import and regasification facility at the Sparrows Point Industrial Complex near Baltimore in Maryland.
The LNG project is now under development. The construction could start as early as mid-2008 with a commercial operation date in late 2010. AES will source LNG from reputable international resources and will transport the LNG in specially designed vessels to supply the Mid-Atlantic region.
The project design incorporates a marine receiving terminal with fully articulated unloading arms and cryogenic transfer piping, three full containment 160,000m³ storage tanks, a gas conditioning and send-out system, plus administrative and support buildings, and berthing facilities to support cargo offloading.
The integrated project also includes a closed-loop glycol vapourisation system to convert the LNG back into gas prior to its delivery into the existing national grid pipeline system. The total vapourisation capacity of the facility has been designed at 1.5 billion cubic feet a day, with additional provisions for future expansion up to 2.25 billion cubic feet if required.
The new LNG facility will connect with various interstate gas pipelines at a point near Eagle, Pennsylvania via the Mid-Atlantic Express, LLC pipeline. The new Mid-Atlantic pipeline will be about 88 miles in length and will be routed along existing utility corridors to minimise disruption and allow construction to be easier.
To support berthing operations at the facility, the existing marine channel needs to be widened. Upon berthing, the LNG transporters will transfer their liquid product through three fully articulated 16in-diameter stainless-steel unloading arms sharing a 32in stainless steel unloading header, which transfers the LNG to the storage tanks. Boil-off gas is transferred back to the ship using vapour-return blowers that create sunction in the tank vapour space and transfer the product through a fully articulated 16in-diameter vapour-return arm.
Operator:
AES Corporation: Operator with 100% interest
Contractors:
CH-IV: FEED contract