Cove Point: A step back into the LNG business

In 1978, ships began unloading LNG from Algeria at Cove Point`s berthing facilities 1.25 miles offshore. An underwater pipeline transported the LNG to land, where it was stored in the terminal`s four 140-foot-high cryogenic storage tanks. When the LNG was needed, the terminals 10 vaporizers converted it back to gas for send out via an 87-mile-long, 36-inch-diameter pipeline linking the terminal with interstate pipelines of CNG Transmission Corp. and Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. in Loudon County, Va. But Cove Point handled only about 80 shiploads of LNG before shutting down in December 1980, after a dispute about gas prices between US customers and Algeria. The plant sat dormant until the natural gas industry`s deregulation under Order 636. Deregulation resulted in major pipelines abandoning their sales service, and gas distributors and large customers found it was now their obligation to ensure that they had adequate gas supplies during winter peak-demand periods. Enter Cove Point`s peaking capabilities. They had to add the liquefaction unit and recommission other parts of the plant, but the timing was right. Cove Point`s new liquefaction unit is liquefying about 15 million cubic feet (MMcf) of LNG per day of domestic gas. It chills the gas to {minus}260more » degrees Fahrenheit to turn it into a liquid for injection and storage in one of the facility`s double-walled insulated tanks. During its initial injection season, which ends Dec. 15, Cove Point is expected to produce enough LNG to almost fill one tank, which can store up to 1.25 billion cubic feet (Bcf). Were the gas not intended for peak-shaving purposes, it would be enough to supply 14,000 homes for a year. As it is, most of the gas will be returned as pipeline gas, during next January and February`s expected cold snaps, to the utilities and users who supplied it. Cove Point`s initial daily sendout capacity is about 400 MMcf.« less