Corps taking comments on LNG plant

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority is permitting a liquefied natural gas facility in the Prudhoe Bay unit as part of its plan to truck LNG to the Interior.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is taking comments on a proposal to construct such a facility along the Spine Road between Drill Site 6 and Drill Site 14 at the North Slope unit. The permit is required because the construction effort would involve filling some 14.97 acres of permafrost tundra wetlands with some 150,800 cubic yards of gravel.

The proposed facility would be fed by an 8-inch pipeline connecting to an existing pipeline in the region and would produce 300,000 gallons per day of LNG, or some 9 billion cubic feet per year of natural gas, according to current AIDEA specifications.

The 300,000 gallons per day would come from three 100,000-gallon trains.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is taking comments through Dec. 9, 2013.

AIDEA is currently developing commercial terms with three companies that have expressed an interest in designing, building and operating the plant. The companies are the local distribution company Fairbanks Natural Gas, the local electric cooperative Golden Valley Electric Association and the private developer Spectrum Alaska LLC.

AIDEA previously said it would require its private partner on the project to contribute no less than $20 million and no more than $50 million to the cost of construction.

After completing the terms, AIDEA plans to release the proposals to the public and give a recommendation to its board on which proposal best meets the terms of the project.

—Eric Lidji