“As part of initial commissioning of Midscale liquefaction Train 5, Cheniere and EPC contractor Bechtel will begin startup/commissioning operations,” according to a report filed by Corpus Christi Liquefaction with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

“Cheniere and EPC contractor will be utilizing good engineering practices during startup/commissioning activities. The thermal oxidizer, furnace, and ground flares will be maintained and operated during the startup/commissioning activities to ensure hydrocarbons are properly combusted,” the firm said.

In addition, CCL also received approval from the US FERC on Wednesday to introduce propane into the midscale Train 5 thermal oxidizer and hot oil furnace for the Stage 3 project.

Over 30 mtpa

Last month, Cheniere achieved substantial completion of the fourth liquefaction train at the Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion project.

This followed the substantial completion of the first liquefaction train in March last year, ahead of schedule, and the company’s completion of the second liquefaction train in August and the third train in October.

“Our seven-train, 10+ million-tonne-per-annum (mtpa) project continues to track ahead of schedule and on budget, and we expect the remaining three trains to achieve substantial completion in 2026,” Cheniere said last month.

Cheniere made the final investment decision on the Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion project, worth about $8 billion, in June 2022, while Bechtel officially started construction on the project in October of the same year.

The Stage 3 expansion project was 93 percent complete as of the end of November.

Moreover, Cheniere made a positive final investment decision to build two more midscale trains at its Corpus Christi LNG plant in June last year.

The CCL midscale trains 8 and 9 project is being built adjacent to the Corpus Christi Stage 3 project and consists of two midscale trains with an expected total liquefaction capacity of over 3 mtpa of LNG and other debottlenecking infrastructure.

Upon completion of the project, and together with expected debottlenecking and CCL Stage 3, the Corpus Christi LNG terminal will reach over 30 mtpa in total liquefaction capacity later this decade.

In addition to this expansion, Cheniere received approval from the US FERC to initiate the environmental pre-filing review for its Corpus Christi Liquefaction Stage 4 project.

The trains will have a peak production capacity of approximately 24 mtpa of LNG.