[/table] Sept. 20--People from across the region packed into the South Lafourche Library's multipurpose room to take part in the open house for a proposed liquefied natural gas facility at Port Fourchon.
Business leaders, local government officials, port officials and residents watched a presentation from Energy World's project manager Graham Elliott in which he outlined what the project will entail and why the company plans on investing $888 million on the facility in Port Fourchon.
"Why did we choose Port Fourchon? It's because it's an ideal location, it has existing port infrastructure, it has proximity to a gas supply, and there's a skilled local labor force, which is very important to us," Elliot said. "This project should create about around 500 jobs locally during construction ... and during full-time operation, you're probably looking at around 150 to 200 people employed around the clock."
Energy World also plans to use local shipyards to build the vessels needed for transport to and from the facility.
This seemed to impress the audience, who later got to ask questions ranging from where the gas would be coming from to how it would affect the port's boat traffic and energy grid to how long it would take for the facility to be up and running.
Elliot said Energy World is designing the facility to have as little effect on the shipping traffic in and out of the port as possible and said, depending on what the company could work out with local energy companies, it would either be able to generate its own electricity or be powered by the local grid if it receives a good enough deal.
Representatives of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission were also on hand at the open house to let locals know about the environmental impact statement that they will be working on that will be a major contributing factor as to whether the facility would be approved by the federal government and how residents could register their concerns about the facility.
Between 2010 and 2014, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission received 17 applications to build LNG facilities but issued decisions for only three, all approvals, according to a report the Government Accountability Office prepared in September 2014 for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Of those, two are in the Lake Charles area, projects that have sparked an economic boom there, and one is in Freeport, Texas.
Elliot said Energy World expects the permitting process to take around two years to complete. Then the company will begin construction, which should take an additional two years. Ground breaking is expected some time in late 2019 or early 2020 with construction expected to be completed in 2021 or 2022.
The LNG facility would be built on up to 150 acres of port-owned property to the west of Belle Pass, outside the port's existing development. Elliot said the design would be similar to the company's LNG facility in Indonesia but would be 2.5 times larger.
"This is a big step for the area. We're excited for this project for sure," said Chett Chiasson, executive director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission. "What it can bring to the community in the form of construction jobs and then in full-time jobs for, we hope, a long, long time is huge. We're in the beginning steps now, and we're thankful to Energy World for coming to Fourchon and starting this.
"A challenge isn't something new for us or for Energy World, and getting through the regulatory process and seeing this project to fruition is our goal."
-- Staff Writer Dan Boudreaux can be reached at 857-2204 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @dan_boudreaux.
EWC Price at posting:
40.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
