Excelerate Energy has filed its formal application with the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requesting authorization to construct, own, and operate the first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) export facility in the United States. Sited along the coast south of Point Comfort, Texas, the Lavaca Bay facility will comprise of a permanently moored floating liquefaction storage and offloading (FLSO) unit with 4.4 Mt/year of production capacity and 250,000 m³ of LNG storage, and a fully integrated, on-shore gas processing plant. The project will be designed and permitted with the potential for expansion and the addition of a second FLSO over time for a total production capacity of up to 10 Mt/year.
Pending FERC approval, the facility is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2018. Excelerate Energy has been granted permission to export to free-trade agreement (FTA) nations by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and has filed for non-FTA approval in October 2012.