GLNG: Glenfarne selects contractor Kiewit for Texas LNG project

New York-headquartered Glenfarne Group has chosen contractor Kiewit to build the company’s Texas LNG plant, Reuters reported on November 4.

The proposed export terminal located on the border city of Brownsville will boast a production capacity of 4mn tonnes per year (tpy).

Construction of the plant is expected to begin before the end of the month. Glenfarne has pushed back the project’s start-up date a number of times. Commercial operations were initially planned to begin in 2026, before being delayed to 2027, and then 2028.

However, in May, the company requested an extension until 2029 from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) pushing back the project’s start-up once again.

The selection of Kiewit as lead contractor moves the proposed project one step closer to achieving a successful final investment decision (FID).

In September, Glenfarne boasted that it had already secured enough off-take agreements with customers to move ahead with taking FID. Among the customers Glenfarne has secured already are Gunvor, EQT Corporation, Macquarie Group, and German utility RWE. Long-term deals for as many as 15 years have already been signed.

Texas LNG will be built on a 625-acre (253-hectare) site. The export terminal will benefit from easy access to the lost-cost Eagle Ford and Permian Basin gas reserves.

The facility also boasts green credentials as it will utilise an electric motor compressor powered by renewable energy. The compressor will lower the facility’s carbon footprint and improve the plant’s appeal to prospective buyers from a sustainability perspective.

For Kiewit, it has been a busy couple of months. In September, the construction contractor reached an out of court settlement with upstart US LNG developer Venture Global, which had brought litigation against Kiewit alleging that the firm shared confidential information with Shell concerning Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG facility.

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