Liquefied Natural Gas Plant Planned in Central Massachusetts

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): Energy facility developers with ties to National Grid plan a $100 million plant in Central Massachusetts that would create, store and ship liquefied natural gas, a fuel known as LNG.

The Northeast Energy Center, a project of Liberty Energy Trust and NorthStar Industries, is proposed for 12 acres of a 220-acre site near Route 20 and the Massachusetts Turnpike.

The state's Energy Facilities Siting Board plans a public hearing at the Charlton Municipal Offices on Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.

At the proposed facility, natural gas sourced from the Tennessee Gas Pipeline would be cooled to a liquid state, potentially at the rate of 250,000 gallons per day. The plant would be able to store nearly 1 million gallons of LNG in 10 tanks. The gas could then be transported by truck.

National Grid, which holds Bay State Gas Company and Boston Gas Company, earlier solicited developers to help National Grid implement its LNG strategy, and the proposal by Northeast Energy Center was chosen, according to a petition filed with the state.

Among other things, National Grid wishes to purchase LNG from the Charlton plant and truck it to National Grid's LNG storage facilities in Rhode Island, according to the company's latest long-range plan.

Other utilities, manufacturers, and generators could also potentially make use of the LNG.

The two companies claim LNG storage would benefit heating customers and electricity generators alike. During last winter's cold snap, when natural gas pipeline capacity was at a premium, the region's gas-burning power plants relied upon expensive LNG imports from overseas, and even turned to dirtier-burning fuel oil. LNG can be vaporized and injected into the pipeline system as needed.

LNG already supplies 20 to 40 percent of the region's natural gas during very cold days, and on average provides about 8 percent of New England's total gas supply, according to the Northeast Gas Association, a trade group.

The Charlton storage proposal, first announced in May, comes as the industry acknowledges the difficulties of siting natural gas pipelines in New England and the Northeast.

In 2016, Kinder Morgan suspended its Northeast Energy Direct project, and New York denied a federal water permit for the Constitution Pipeline.  Also that year, Massachusetts' highest court shot down a proposal to have electricity customers pay for pipelines.

National Grid also plans a $180 million LNG plant in Providence, Rhode Island. That project received federal approval last month.

Courtesy: www.masslive.com