Sempra Makes Moves on LNG, Power Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) (San Diego, California) has big plans in store for future projects. Not only is the company making progress with projects in its power business, but is soon to make major moves on its liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Louisiana, Texas and Mexico. Industrial Info is tracking more than $36 billion in active projects in Sempra's power and LNG segments.

Click on the image at right for a breakdown of Sempra's active projects by industry.

In the company's recent conference call with industry analysts, Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Martin discussed Sempra's recent accomplishments and the future of its LNG production plants. He said, "In 2019, we made progress on Cameron LNG [in southwest Louisiana], putting Train 1 in service and starting production at Train 2." Construction on a third train remains on schedule, and it is expected to start production in the third quarter of this year. Each train will have a production capacity of 5 million tons per year, and sales agreements are in place with companies including ENGIE (Paris, France) and Japan's Mitsui & Company Limited (Tokyo). Sempra's full-year run rate earnings from the three trains are expected to be between $400 million and $450 million annually once all three are in service. Sempra is evaluating whether to add to another two trains to the plant, bringing total capacity to 25 million tons per year. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on trains 1, 2 and 3, and trains 4 and 5.

Sempra also is developing an LNG project in Port Arthur, Texas. A final investment decision is targeted for the third quarter of this year. Sempra has signed contracts with Polish Oil & Gas Company (PGNiG) (Warsaw, Poland) for 2 million tons of LNG per year from the plant, and more recently signed an agreement with Saudi Aramco for the potential purchase of 5 million tons per year as well as a 25% equity investment in the project. The plant could potentially have three trains, each with a production capacity of 7.73 million tons per year. Construction on the first train could begin next year. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on Train 1, Train 2 and Train 3.

Sempra also is moving on its Costa Azul LNG project in Baja California, Mexico. The company expects to make a final investment decision (FID) on the project later this quarter. TechnipFMC (NYSE:FTI) (London, England) has been selected as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor, and it expects to sign a turnkey EPC contract for the project soon. Construction could kick off later this year, after Sempra makes its FID. The plant will consist of a single train capable of producing 2.4 million metric tons per year and is expected to be completed in mid-2022. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report. Sempra could potentially expand the plant, although this is in the early planning stages and remains some way off. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Sempra's power projects in the U.S. are focused largely on transmission and distribution. Among the largest of these projects is the enhancement if its San Juan Capistrano-to-Talega transmission line in Southern California, which involves replacing four segments of 138-kilovolt (kV) overhead, single-circuit transmission line with 230-kV double-circuit line. Construction on the $450 million project began in mid-2018 and is expected to be completed this summer. Beta Engineering (Pineville, Louisiana) is providing EPC services. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Sempra is underway with several renewable energy projects in Mexico. Among these is the 125-megawatt Don Diego solar facility in Sonora. The plant is being built on a 500-acre site and will use more than 517,000 photovoltaic solar panels on a fixed-tilt system. Construction began early last year and is expected to be completed this summer. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

For fourth-quarter 2019, Sempra reported earnings of $447 million, compared with $864 million in the prior-year quarter. Full-year earnings were $2.1 billion, compared with $924 million in 2018.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.