Houston, Texas-based Cheniere Energy has made a final investment decision ( FID ) on the Corpus Christi Midscale Trains 8 & 9 and Debottlenecking Project, and has notified Bechtel Energy to proceed with its construction.

The project consists of two midscale trains with an expected total liquefaction capacity of over 3 million tonnes per annum ( mtpa ) of liquefied natural gas ( LNG ) and other debottlenecking infrastructure. It is being built adjacent to the Corpus Christi Stage 3 Project of over 3 mtpa of LNG and other debottlenecking infrastructure.  

Upon completion of CCL Midscale Trains 8 & 9, and together with CCL Stage 3 and debottlenecking, the Corpus Christi LNG terminal is expected to reach over 30 mtpa in total liquefaction capacity later this decade.

New York-listed Cheniere also announced an updated run-rate LNG production outlook, which reflects an increase in the combined liquefaction capacity across the Cheniere platform at Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi by over 10% to over 60 mtpa, inclusive of CCL Midscale Trains 8 & 9, CCL Stage 3, and identified debottlenecking opportunities across the platform.

In addition, Cheniere is developing further brownfield liquefaction capacity expansions at both the Corpus Christi and Sabine Pass terminals. The company expects these expansions to be executed in a phased approach, starting with initial single-train expansions at each site, which, if completed, would grow its LNG platform to up to 75 mtpa of capacity by the early 2030s.

“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,” says Cheniere president and chief executive officer Jack Fusco.