Cheniere Energy’s Board of Directors has approved the Final Investment Decision for the Corpus Christi Midscale Trains 8 & 9 and Debottlenecking Project.
The company has authorised Bechtel Energy to begin construction on these projects. These midscale trains, positioned next to the Corpus Christi Stage 3 Project, are expected to produce over three million tonnes per annum of liquefied natural gas.
With the completion of these projects, along with debottlenecking initiatives and the Stage 3 project, the liquefaction capacity at the Corpus Christi LNG terminal is projected to exceed 30 million tonnes per annum by the end of this decade.
Cheniere has also revised its LNG production outlook, anticipating a more than 10% increase in liquefaction capacity across its Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi operations. This growth, including the new midscale trains, Stage 3, and other debottlenecking efforts, will elevate the total capacity to over 60 million tonnes per annum.
Furthermore, Cheniere is planning further expansions at both Corpus Christi and Sabine Pass. These expansions will occur in phases, starting with single-train additions at each location. If completed, these expansions could increase Cheniere’s total LNG capacity to approximately 75 million tonnes per annum by the early 2030s.
Cheniere president and CEO Jack Fusco said: “We are pleased to announce the FID of CCL Midscale Trains 8 & 9 today, an important milestone for Cheniere as we continue to accretively grow our world-class infrastructure platform to over 60mtpa.
“I would like to recognise the Cheniere team, our EPC partner Bechtel, our long-term customers and the regulatory agencies which govern our projects for the demonstrated teamwork, commitment and execution, all of which were critical elements in the successful commercialisation and development of CCL Midscale Trains 8 & 9 in adherence to the Cheniere standard.
“We expect CCL Midscale Trains 8 & 9 to be executed seamlessly with Corpus Christi Stage 3, where Train 1 achieved Substantial Completion in March, and Train 2 achieved first LNG production this month. We look forward to bringing this much needed new LNG supply to market safely, on time and on budget.”
