Freeport LNG, the operator of the three-train 15 mtpa liquefaction plant in Texas, will soon be able to produce a bit over 16.5 mtpa of LNG due to a debottlenecking project.
“For roughly over a year and a half, Freeport LNG has been working on a debottlenecking project that will result in the installation of additional compressor capacity across the facility’s three liquefaction unit trains,” a Freeport LNG spokeswoman told LNG Prime on Wednesday.
The recent liquefaction train unit outages that the company has experienced, have allowed Freeport LNG to accelerate the debottlenecking work of installing the additional compressor capacity across its three trains.
“When complete, the debottlenecking project will increase Freeport LNG’s production capacity from an excess of 15 mtpa to just over 16.5 mtpa by roughly the June timeframe,” she said.
Additionally, Freeport LNG’s train 4, which has received all regulatory approvals, will add an additional 25 percent LNG production capacity, when that train becomes operational, the spokeswoman said.
Of the 15 mtpa of Freeport LNG’s export capacity, 13.4 mtpa has been sold to Osaka Gas, Jera, BP, TotalEnergies, and SK E&S.
The spokeswoman said that Freeport LNG’s third train is currently online and producing LNG.
“It was during the January freeze that damage occurred in one of the train 3 motors. Once we understood the cause of the damage, we knew it would be prudent to take proactive steps to inspect our other two trains,” she said.
“So our train 2 liquefaction unit is now offline and our train 1 liquefaction unit will be taken down imminently,” she said.
“We anticipate that our inspections on trains 1 and 2, and any subsequent, necessary repairs resulting from those inspections, will be completed on both trains by sometime in May,” the spokeswoman added.
Freeport LNG was previously closed for about eight months due to an incident that occurred in 2022.
In February last year, the LNG terminal operator shipped the first cargo from its LNG export plant in Texas since the shutdown in June 2022.
In November, Freeport LNG received an approval from the US FERC to place back into service its second jetty.
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