PGW targets Richmond LNG facilities expansion

Philadelphia Gas Works, a municipally owned gas utility, issued a request for proposals looking to optimize its LNG sales and assets and increase the liquefaction capacity of its Richmond LNG facility.

PGW, managed by the Philadelphia Facilities Management Corporation, operates the Richmond LNG plant located in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia, as well as an LNG storage and vaporization facility in South Philadelphia at its Passyunk LNG plant, the RFP documents reveal.

Due to a decline in the use of natural gas over the past decade, PGW informed it has underutilized LNG storage capacity as it currently “requires 50 percent less LNG to support its worst-case scenario winter operating season.” This amount equals 50 percent of PGW’s LNG storage capacity or 2 billion cubic feet.

For this reason, PGW is looking to optimize its LNG storage assets and focus on increasing LNG sales through the solicitation of new customers.

The utility plans to increase the liquefaction capacity at its Richmond plant with the addition of a new 21 mmscfd (250,000 gallons per day) liquefier, which would make 5.2 billion cubic feet of LNG per year available at the plant.

The new liquefier is scheduled to become operational in the first quarter of 2019.

Deadline for submitting the proposals is set for May 23, 2016, and bidders will have the option to sign LNG sales contracts or LNG tolling contracts, PGW said.

LNG loading facilities expansion

PGW currently operates one truck loading bay within the Richmond LNG plant but plans to expand the facility to allow for simultaneous use of an additional bay prior to the commencement of the production of the new liquefier.

This would allow the utility to load up to 12 trailers during working hours or up to 30 trailers per day when operating 24 hours.

PGW would also consider adding more truck loading bays, within or outside of its property, however, the loading facilities outside the PGW property would be a responsibility of the bidder.

The company said it has sold over 2,000 trailers of LNG on an interruptible basis due to a rise in regional demand for LNG over the fiscal 2013 and 2014, and into 2015.

The sales have been interrupted due to the limited liquefaction capacity of approximately 1.8 billion cubic feet per year.

Since the Richmond plant is located near the Delaware River, adjacent to the Tioga Marine Terminal, this opens options for expansion to marine bunkering and barging operations using LNG as a fuel and cargo, PGW said.

However, unlike the truck loading facilities that will be funded by PGW, the company is inviting bidders interested in accessing the marine LNG fuel or export markets will be responsible for financing harbor-side infrastructure and developing agreements and logistics with the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA) and the Delaware River Stevedores (DRS).

PGW further adds that, due to Richmond facility’s proximity to the railway line, possible expansion in that direction is also on the table. All bidders interested in developing a rail loading operation for LNG fueling or transportation would also be responsible for financing the infrastructure and developing agreements and logistics with the Philadelphia Beltline Railway.

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LNG World News Staff