On Tuesday we brought you an update about New Fortress Energy’s LNG plant planned for Wylausing (Bradford County), PA (see Wyalusing, PA LNG Export Plant Making Progress). In researching that story we stumbled across news that (so far) nobody else has published: There is a second LNG plant planned for Wyalusing. In fact, the second plant is under construction right now!

In researching material for the Tuesday post about New Fortress, we ran across a press release from Dominion Energy and Rev LNG from last October announcing a joint venture to create new smaller LNG plants, the first of which will be built in Wyalusing. The jv is called NiCHe, LLC and is meant to supply LNG to “commercial and industrial users to local gas utilities and power generation facilities.”

There are big differences between the new Dominion/REV LNG facility and the planned New Fortress facility. NiCHe will serve local and regional customers, while New Fortress is exporting their LNG to other countries (and to California). NiCHe’s daily liquefaction capacity is approximately 50,000 gallons per day, while the New Fortress facility will liquefy up to 3.5 million gallons per day. And while New Fortress eventually wants to use railroad to ship its LNG, initially shipments go via LNG tanker trucks, some 10-15 of them *per hour* entering and leaving the facility. NiCHe will see between 1-6 truck trips *per day* at its facility, depending on demand. In other words, it is an entirely different scope of operation between the two facilities.

In one sense the NiCHe operation is similar to CNG virtual pipelines we’ve seen set up shop in Susquehanna County, PA (see Major CNG Virtual Pipeline Coming to Susquehanna County, PA and Virtual Pipeline Says Goodbye to NY, Sets Up Across Border in PA). NiCHe will, like CNG virtual pipeline operations, truck its LNG to customers. But LNG is far different from CNG.

CNG is compressed to 3,000 pounds per square inch. LNG is supercooled to minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit and takes up 1/600th of the space of the original gas. You can fit far more “gas” into an LNG tanker than you can in a CNG tanker. But LNG also requires the customer to have regasification equipment. LNG is used for larger consumers who need higher volumes of gas.

What began our journey of discovery that Wyalusing is getting a second LNG plant was spotting this press release, from last October:

— NiCHe partnership will enable Dominion Energy to develop a full spectrum of LNG services to meet needs of customers with limited access or constrained natural gas infrastructure

— First project will leverage sustainable attributes, including access to biogas and sustainably produced gas

WHAT: Dominion Energy and REV LNG, LLC are announcing the formation of NiCHe, LLC, a joint partnership that will develop facilities to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) for growing energy markets throughout the United States.

NiCHe will provide affordable supplies of LNG to a wide range of customers, from commercial and industrial users to local gas utilities and power generation facilities.

NiCHe’s first project, Towanda, will be a 50,000-gallons/day liquefaction and storage facility located in Wyalusing, Pa. Construction on Towanda is expected to begin in the Spring of 2019 with the project scheduled to be in-service for the 2019-2020 winter heating season.

WHERE: For project details, visit www.niche-llc.com.*

We checked the project website and didn’t see any specific mention of the Wyalusing plant, so we reached out to Dominion. Frank Mack, Communications Projects Manager with Dominion, got right back to us, answering our questions about the project. He said the project is already under construction:

Is NiCHe still an active project/happening in 2019?

NiCHe’s first project, Towanda, will be a 50,000 gallon/day liquefaction and storage facility located in Wyalusing, Pa. Construction on Towanda began in early 2019 with the project scheduled to be in-service in time for the 2019-2020 winter heating season.

Does the project have customers lined up? (Can you name any of them?)

We currently are responding to LNG Supply Requests for Proposal, and we have contracted to supply LNG for end-users including public utilities and commercial and industrial customers.

Which producer(s) are providing gas to the plant? Anyone under contract?

Yes, but it is confidential as we are not ready to announce it at this time.

Will all of the LNG be trucked? Any of it going via rail?

We plan to transport the LNG by truck to our customers.

Any further details you have would be helpful.

1. Dominion Energy has years of experience in liquefied natural gas (LNG) import/export services with our Cove Point LNG Terminal in Maryland, and is looking to broaden its LNG services to commercial and industrial customers.

REV LNG is a leading alternative fuel solutions provider in the United States, one of the first of its kind in the Northeast to deliver natural gas to customers through its LNG-fueled trucking fleet, and has an outstanding safety record, having successfully hauled and safely driven more than 20 million miles, all of which adds up to a formidable partnership.

2. NiCHe is a joint partnership between Dominion Energy and REV LNG that will develop facilities to produce liquefied natural gas for growing energy markets throughout the United States. NiCHe will provide affordable supplies of LNG to a wide range of customers, from commercial and industrial users to local gas utilities and power generation facilities. These projects are targeting highly constrained markets in the Northeast where oil is being used to meet demand.

NiCHe will provide LNG via virtual pipelines to supply gas to areas where access is limited, or where existing natural gas pipeline infrastructure is constrained. Our joint partnership will help meet the growing demand for natural gas, improve the environment and provide a lower-cost alternative to other fuels.

Dominion Energy has made a commitment to building a more sustainable future by reducing carbon emissions, both for the company and its customers. The project will help meet needs of customers with limited access or constrained natural gas infrastructure, and will offer access to biogas from landfills, livestock farm and water treatment facilities.

3. Not only does this project support carbon-intensive fuels, NiCHe’s commitment to the environment is backed by sustainable attributes, including offering natural gas supply from responsibly produced gas wells and access to biogas. NiCHe is contracting for natural gas supply from responsible producers who subscribe to well integrity protection, chemical management disclosure, freshwater conservation and low-emission performance. In addition, the Towanda facility also will have access to biogas from landfills, livestock farm and water treatment facilities. Both of these combined efforts to reduce carbon emissions strengthen Dominion Energy’s commitment to building a more sustainable future, both for the company and its customers.

So it appears not only will Dominion source the gas from local drillers, but also from so-called renewable sources, like landfills and farm animal poop. Whatever. We suspect most of the gas will indeed come out of the ground from the Marcellus and the “renewable” gas stuff is mostly marketing.

*Dominion Energy (Oct 19, 2018) – Modular LNG Joint Partnership will help meet increasing demand for natural gas