With liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports reshaping North America’s energy landscape, Canada-headquartered energy infrastructure company Enbridge has made another strategic move on the U.S. Gulf Coast by penning an exclusive option to acquire the TTC Connector, designed to provide a new link into an existing LNG supply corridor, connecting one of the firm’s gas storage facilities with the broader pipeline network that feeds an LNG export terminal in Texas, United States.
Enbridge has signed an exclusive option to acquire the TTC Connector , located within the U.S. Gulf Coast LNG supply chain, to potentially expand its existing Gulf Coast natural gas footprint. The firm sees this as a key LNG lynchpin, connecting its Tres Palacios gas storage facility to the Coastal Bend Header pipeline for delivery to the Freeport LNG export facility .
The 25-mile, 300-million-cubic-feet-per-day (cf/d) TTC Connector, which is now under construction, is expected to enter service by the end of 2026. The Freeport LNG terminal on Quintana Island in Brazoria County, Texas, is said to be one of the largest operational LNG export facilities in America and the world, processing and moving 2.23 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d), or 17 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).
While the company was already considered to be an important gas storage player last year with 10% of available storage capacity on the U.S. Gulf Coast, it announced expansions to three of its gas storage facilities— Egan in Louisiana with an additional 16 bcf, Moss Bluff in Texas with additional 7 bcf, and Tres Palacios in Texas with additional 25 bcf – since then, which will bring capacity at its four Gulf Coast facilities up to about 150 bcf by 2033.
Matthew Akman , Executive Vice President and President of Enbridge’s Gas Transmission business, underlined: “We’ve now got almost 50 bcf of expansion (projects) across our own wholly owned Gulf Coast storage facilities. So lots of opportunity there.”
According to Elizabeth Perez , Director of Intrastate Business Development with Enbridge’s Gas Transmission business, the TTC Connector represents a “last-mile” LNG supply project linking a major Gulf Coast storage asset to an LNG export terminal.
Perez added: “It’s a prime example of the growing integration between storage, transmission and LNG export facilities as the world’s demand for American LNG exports continues to grow.”