Transco natgas expansion approved to start

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has given Transcontinental Gas Pipeline permission to begin flows on its Virginia Southside II expansion project in the mid-Atlantic US.

The 241mn cf/d (7mn m³/d) expansion was designed to provide additional service to markets in southern Virginia, including deliverability to Dominion Virginia Power's new 1,580MW combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant in Greensville County, Virginia, when that plant comes on line.

The $191mn pipeline project includes the new 4-mile (6km) Greensville Lateral in Virginia, as well as metering and compressor station facilities in Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

The project will boost flows from Transco's compressor station 210 pooling point in Mercer County, New Jersey, and from its compressor station 165 pooling point in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, to a proposed delivery point on the Greenville Lateral.

The $1.3bn Greensville County power plant will acquire full transportation rights on the Virginia Southside II expansion once the plant begins service, according to filings with FERC. Dominion began construction on the plant in June 2016, and expects it to begin commercial operations in late 2018.