Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) subsidiaries Elba Liquefaction Co. LLC (ELC) and Southern LNG Co. LLC (SLNG) have received authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the Elba liquefaction project.

The approximate $2-B project will be constructed and operated at the existing Elba Island LNG terminal near Savannah, Georgia. The first of 10 liquefaction units is expected to be placed in service in 2Q 2018, with the remaining nine units coming online before the end of 2018. This project is supported by a 20-year contract with Shell. 

Also, Elba Express Co. LLC (EEC) and Southern Natural Gas Co. LLC (SNG) have received from FERC Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity for the EEC modification project and SNG Zone 3expansion project, respectively. Together these projects total $306 MM and include additional compression and related work for north-to-south capacity expansions on the Elba express pipeline that will supply additional gas to industrials and utilities in Georgia and Florida and to Elba Island for liquefaction. Facilitiesfor these pipeline projects are expected to be placed in service late 4Q 2016. 

In 2012, the Elba liquefaction project received authorization from the US Department of Energy to export to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) countries. An application to export to non-FTA countries is pending, but is not required for the project to move ahead. The liquefaction project is expected to have a total capacity of approximately 2.5 MMtpy for export, equivalent to approximately 350,000 Mcf per day of natural gas.