Project Profile
Value: Undisclosed
Location: banks of Passamaquoddy Bay, Robbinston town, Maine state, New England region of the northeastern United States, USA
Capacity: 500 mmcfd (throughput)
Peak capacity: 625 mmcfd
LNG storage tanks capacity: 2 X 160,000 m3 (net)
Area: 80-acre
Length: approximately 30 miles
Start-up Year: -
Downeast LNG proposes to construct and operate a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal on the banks of the Passamaquoddy Bay on land in the Town of Robbinston, Maine. The project will provide much needed additional natural gas supplies to meet increasing demand in the Northeast region of the United States. The project has a design capacity of 500 mmcfd throughput and peak capacity of 625 mmcfd. It will serve a market that is expected to have a growing supply/demand gap of 1 bcfd by 2015, with sustained moderate to high prices.
The project is needed because most existing transmission pipelines to New England are at full capacity during peak periods and Canadian and offshore LNG projects cannot fill the supply gap due to market growth and the need for firm, land-based LNG storage. The Downeast LNG project at Mill Cove in Robbinston, Maine, is the best land-based location for an LNG Terminal along the eastern seaboard. It will be built on a large, 80-acre parcel with excellent water access. There are minimal land developments nearby and channel navigation is very good. While the waters off the project regularly accommodate large ships going to nearby U.S. and Canadian ports, there is relatively light marine traffic compared to busy east coast ports. In addition, the project can easily access Maine and New England markets by connecting to the nearby Maritime & Northeast Pipeline near the U.S./Canadian border.
The project will consist of off-shore facilities for unloading LNG carriers, and on-shore facilities for storing LNG, vaporizing the LNG, and sending out the natural gas. Upon vaporization, the natural gas will be sent via an approximately 30-mile pipeline (up to 30-inch diameter) to the interstate natural gas pipeline system of Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline (M&NE) at its existing compressor station at Baileyville, Maine. Key characteristics of the project include:
- 500 mmscfd baseload facility with 625 mmscfd peak capacity, and expandable to 1 bcfd capacity
- Natural water depth of 50 feet MLLW – no dredging required
- Two 160,000 m3 (net) capacity full containment LNG storage tanks
- nitial LNG Carrier range of size from 70,000 m3 to 165,000 m3
- Expected delivery of one LNG Carrier weekly
- Water bath regasification units
- Gas pipeline lateral of approximatly 30 miles (up to 30” diameter)
- No NGL extraction
- No LNG trucking
Operators:
Downeast LNG: Operator with 100% interest
Contractors:
CH-IV: EPC contract for cyrogenic engineering
ENGlobal: EPC contract for pipeline engineering
Whessoe: EPC contract for tank engineering
CES, INC.: General EPC contract
Haley Aldrich: Contract for environmental and geotechnical
Stantec: Contract for environmental assessment
MER Assessment: Contract for marine environmental assessment
DNV: Contract for risk management
Baird & Associates: Contract for marine conditions and terminal availability nalysis
Marine Safety International: Contract for ship and navigational analysis
Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P.: Contract for legal services for the FERC Counsel
Pierce Atwood, LLP: Contract for legal services for the Maine Permitting Counsel