The Cumberland Project is a proposed pipeline project in the US state of Tennessee to be developed by Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (TGP), a company of Kinder Morgan.

The project will be developed with a transportation capacity of 245,040 dekatherms of additional firm natural gas per day (Dth/d) to the Cumberland Natural Gas Combined Life Cycle Power Plant of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

TGP applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in July 2022. FERC, the lead certification agency, certified the application and prepared a Final Environmental Impact Assessment for the project in June 2023.

The US Army Corps of Engineers and the US Environmental Protection Agency supported the preparation of the EIA.

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According to the EIA, TGP anticipates to start the construction in August 2024. Cumberland Pipeline Project is expected to begin operations by September 2025.

Cumberland Location and Site Details

The Cumberland Project will be located in Dickson County, Houston County, and Stewart County in Tennessee in the USA.

The pipeline project would disturb a total land surface are of 507.5 acres during construction and after this, about 313.8 acres would be restored to pre-construction conditions.

Around 193.7 acres would be used for the operation of the project.

Cumberland Project Details

The proposed Cumberland Project would consist of a 30-inch diameter natural gas lateral pipeline interconnecting 100-3 and 100-4, Tennessee’s existing lines, in Dickson County. It would run for approximately 32 miles northwest and would terminate at the new Cumberland Meter Station in Steward County in Tennessee. The pipeline would support a maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) of 750 pounds per square inch (psi).

A typical 100-foot-wide construction right-of-way would be used for the installation of the pipeline.  The natural gas lateral pipeline would be located parallel and adjacent to the existing electrical transmission lines owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

A new bi-directional Pressure Regulation Station, a new regular station, three new Main Line Valves (MLVs) each on 100-3, 100-4, and new Cumberland pipeline, one new Cumberland Meter Station, and two new pig launcher and receiver facilities are proposed for the project.

The Pressure Regular Station would connect 100-3 and 100-4 lines located on the Cumberland Pipeline at approximately Mile Post (MP) 0 and MP 0.4 on 100-3 and 100-4 lines. The station can be accessed by a new access road originating from a paved county road, Pack Road, lying adjacent to the site.

The MLVs would lie within the limits of the Pressure Regulation Station and the third MLV on the Cumberland Pipeline will have a fence line of approximately 50 feet*50 feet (length*breadth). This MLV would be accessible through a new permanent access road originating at Little Barton’s Creek Road and by a temporary access road off Barton’s Creek Road available only during the construction period.

One pig launcher and receiver facility would be constructed each within the Pressure Regulation System at MP 0 and the Cumberland Meter Station at MP 32 approximately.

Two locations have been identified for constructing contractor yards, one in Houston County and the other in Dickson County. The Contractor Yard 1 in Houston County would be located approximately 0.25-mile northeast of MP 27 and the Contractor Yard 2 in Dickson County would be located approximately 3.5 miles south of MP 12.

For the project, three new permanent access roads would be constructed for use in operation. These will provide access to the Pressure Regulation System at MP 0, Cumberland Meter Station at MP 32, and MLV at MP 16.6. In total, 55 access roads would be is use during construction and operation of the project.

The project may have non-jurisdictional facilities as a part of the proposed facilities.

To power Pressure Regulation Station, TGP anticipates that about 10 feet of new power line would be required and about 2,400 feet of new power lines for the Cumberland Meter Station. There would be no extension of new distribution lines for the Pressure Regulation Station as the power would be delivered by an existing service line on power poles on Pack Road, as expected by TGP.

Contractor Involved

CH.IV International, a engineering and consulting services provider, was selected by the National Grid to evaluate restructuring of the LNG storage tank at the project’s brownfield location. The contract included a site analysis according to the latest DOT PHMSA criteria to know about the mitigation levels required to receive permission under the current federal regulations.