By Cyndi Sellers
On Thursday, Dec. 2, Venture Global LNG CEO Mike Sabel and Gov. John Bel Edwards announced the company plans to invest more than $10 billion in a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, adjacent to the Calcasieu Pass LNG facility now under construction. The new project, called CP2 will employ carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
The project is expected to result in at least 200 direct new jobs, with average annual salaries of $120,000, plus benefits. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will also result in 867 indirect jobs. At the peak of construction, an average of 2,300 construction jobs will be created.
CP2 will have a capacity of 20 million metric tons per annum (MPTA) of LNG. The CCS process will be used to capture and store underground as estimated 500,000 tons of CO2 emissions from the facility annually, The complex will be located on 650 acres in Cameron, including 170 acres on Monkey Island, to be leased from the Cameron Parish Port, Harbor and Terminal District. CP2 will have direct access to the Calcasieu Ship Channel by means of two new ship berths to be built on the island.
The site will be constructed in two phases, and will include 18 liquefaction blocks, four 200,000 cubic-meter full-containment LNG storage tanks, two marine loading berths, and two on-site combined cycle gas turbine power plants. The design will be similar and equipment identical to that being used at the Calcasieu Pass LNG facility. Administrative offices, an on-site fire station and maintenance structures are also planned for the site. The CP Express pipeline will deliver natural gas to the new facility.
“We are fortunate to have growing industry in Cameron Parish and value our partnership with Venture Global,” said Cameron Parish Police Jury Vice President Thomas McDaniel. “This is a standout project, and we are grateful for their investment in our community. CP2 is the kind of private-public partnership that means we can leave Cameron Parish better than we found it.”
“Southwest Louisiana welcomes Venture Global’s new mega-project,” said George Swift, President and CEO of the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance. “We are excited that it includes carbon capture and sequestration capacities. This major investment will further strengthen our region as a global leader in LNG exports. The jobs created will grow Cameron Parish’s workforce significantly and make Cameron Parish the largest LNG exporter in the world.”
Venture Global is in the pre-filing phase of applying for a permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC docket number PF21-1-000). The company has told the FERC that it expects to make formal application in the next few weeks. At some point, public comment will be taken on the project. Recent public hearings have been in virtual format, due to COVID restrictions.
The company has signed a lease option with the Cameron Parish Port, Harbor and Terminal District for the Port’s property on Monkey Island and on the west side of the Calcasieu Ship Channel. The Venture Global website shows two ship berths cutting across the southern end of the island, just north of the Lake Charles Pilots housing and the old Coast Guard station site. The onshore portion extends north nearly to the site of the new Lighthouse Bend RV Park, restaurant, and marina, and east toward a residential subdivision. The Police Jury has already issued a resolution stating its acceptance of the potential noise level from the new facility at the Lighthouse Bend facility which it will own.