Northeast Gateway LNG Receiving Terminal Preparing to Receive First Shipment

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Excelerate Energy LLC, a Texas-based LNG importer, has completed construction of its Northeast Gateway LNG receiving terminal off the coast of Massachusetts. The company is awaiting an operations permit from the U.S. Coast Guard.

The terminal is located in the Atlantic Ocean 250 to 275 feet in depth, 13 miles southwest of Gloucester, Massachusetts. The deepwater terminal can accommodate two specially designed Energy Bridge Regasification Vessels (EBRVs) at once. Unlike most land-based terminals, the gas will be regasified onboard the vessels and transferred through two submerged turret loading buoys, through a flexible riser leading to a seabed 24-inch 16.5 mile pipeline that ties into the Algonquin Gas Transmission Pipeline. The Algonquin Gas Transmission Pipeline will deliver up to 800,000 dekatherms of natural gas to the Greater Boston area and New England energy market by way of the existing pipeline infrastructure. When ships are not being unloaded, the only thing that will be visible will be a small mooring buoy. A 35-foot-high docking facility will rise to the surface upon the arrival of a regasification vessel.

Excelerate currently operates four regasification LNG vessels in its shipping fleet: Excelsior, Excellence, Excelerate and Explorer. Explorer is scheduled for delivery in March 2008. The first three vessels are capable of transporting 138,000 cubic meters, and the newest will be cable of transporting 150,900 cubic meters. The company may expand its fleet to nine by 2010.

The terminal will be capable of peak deliveries of up to 800 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, depending on the vessel. Northeast Gateway can deliver about 500 million cubic feet per day of natural gas into the New England market during normal operations or approximately 20% of the New England market's current annual natural gas consumption.

Advanced Production and Loading AS of Norway (APL) was the manufacturer of the majority of the key components used in the Energy Bridge buoy system including the sub sea buoy, riser, and pipeline end manifold. Excelerate Energy also utilized the services of Normandeau Associates Incorporated (Bedford, New Hampshire) for environmental consulting and Tetra Tech EC Incorporated (Morris Plains, New Jersey) for engineering and construction. Algonquin Gas Transmission Company, a division of Houston-based Spectra Energy Corporation, retained the services of Project Consulting Services Incorporated (Metairie, Louisiana) for design and engineering and Horizon Offshore Contractors Incorporated (Houston, Texas) for construction of the sub-sea pipeline.

Recently, Excelerate Energy announced that it had entered an agreement with DB Energy Trading LLC, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG to handle downstream marketing for Excelerate. The agreement entitles DB Energy Trading to sell Excelerate Energy's revaporized LNG. Additionally RWE AG, Europe's sixth-largest seller of gas by volume, has purchased 50 percent of Excelerate Energy for approximately $500 million.

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