Sempra's LNG facility still offline after last month's hurricane

Sempra Energy's $10 billion liquefied natural gas facility on the Louisiana Gulf Coast escaped major damage from last month's Hurricane Laura but the plant is not fully up and running in large part because of difficulties the local electric utility has experienced.

Speaking at a natural gas conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday, Sempra CEO Jeff Martin briefly addressed the status of the Cameron LNG facility. Martin said the plant "took a dead hit" from the hurricane that made landfall Aug. 26 but "weathered it quite well."

Martin added he expected full operations returning in six weeks, which could push the full restoration timeline to the end of October.

Cameron LNG relies on power from Entergy, a utility covering southwest Louisiana. The power company has reported significant damage to transmission lines and other energy infrastructure from Laura, a Category 4 hurricane that pounded the area with 150 mph winds on Aug. 27.

As of 8 a.m. Friday, Entergy said 24,853 customers in the area were still without electricity — down from a peak of 93,000 in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

The Cameron facility, located about 17 miles inland, was built 19 feet above grade to help withstand a strong hurricane. Martin said most of the damage to the plant was "weather-related" but did not offer specifics.

Late Friday afternoon, a Cameron LNG spokeswoman said Entergy had restored partial power to the site, "allowing us to initiate testing of the systems" and begin the restart process for the first of the facility's three production units — called "trains" in the parlance of the industry.

The spokeswoman also said the plant is "in close contact" with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding when the ship channel that provides access to Cameron will be restored to full use.

A nearby LNG facility, Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass terminal, resumed operations Sept. 9 because it produces its own power onsite, according to a report from S&P Global.

Earlier this week, the Louisiana Gulf Coast avoided the brunt of another storm — Hurricane Sally, which made landfall Wednesday in Alabama and the Florida panhandle, packing 105 mph winds.

San Diego-based Sempra Energy owns 50.2 percent of Cameron LNG, partnering with French energy giant Total, Mitsui of Japan, and a Japanese investment group that includes Mitsubishi. The sprawling site that covers a parcel of land 2 miles long and a half-mile wide exports natural gas to customers around the world.

Opened in 2019, Cameron has so far shipped nearly 100 LNG cargoes totaling more than 6 million metric tons of gas to clients. By next year, Sempra expects to earn between $400 million and $450 million per year from Cameron.

A Sempra spokeswoman said the company does not expect a change in the earnings range for 2020 if Cameron LNG shipments do not resume for another six weeks.

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