Cheniere, GE sign $1-billion service agreement for Sabine Pass LNG

GE and Cheniere Energy announced today that they have entered into a $1 billion, 20+-year service contract under which GE will provide spare parts and planned inspections, maintenance services and round-the-clock technical support.

The services arrangement covers the gas turbines and refrigerant compressors on the first four LNG trains currently under construction at the Sabine Pass LNG export facility.

Each train will have six gas turbines and is expected to have nominal capacity to produce approximately 4.5 million tpy of LNG.

“We need the right technology and service partner to support our facilities and ensure that we can deliver reliable production from our Sabine Pass LNG export facility. Our trains will have 24 GE gas turbines that will drive the refrigerant compressors,” said Keith Teague, president and chief operating officer of Cheniere Energy.

“GE’s ability to service the equipment and provide full on-site technical support to ensure optimal reliability was an important factor in our selection," he added. "Support for our terminal will come from their Houston, Cincinnati and Atlanta facilities as well as other locations across the US."

US energy suppliers continue to capitalize on new technologies to extract resources needed to meet domestic and global energy demands as the US prepares to become a net gas exporter in 2016, according to the Energy Information Administration.

“GE continues to be a major supporter of the US LNG export boom,” said Rafael Santana, CEO and president of the turbomachinery solutions business at GE Oil & Gas. "The contract with Cheniere at Sabine Pass will support the production of approximately 18 million tons of LNG from the first four LNG trains.

"We're pleased that our well-proven technology was selected for the Sabine Pass Liquefaction facility and that Cheniere also will rely on our services expertise," he added. "We have been able to build a strong presence in the LNG sector by leveraging our technology and services for many of the world's leading LNG projects.”

The contract announced today will see GE provide services that cover all major maintenance for the first four LNG trains, including parts, repairs and field services as well as a resident team of 14 local experts including field and repair services to assist with all aspects of maintenance on the GE equipment.

GE also will provide access to original parts, supported by the technical expertise of GE’s field engineers, which will ensure optimal reliability.

GE will be supplying services for the following products:

• 24 PGT25+ G4 gas turbines to power the LNG trains.
• 56 centrifugal compressors.
• Associated auxiliaries.

GE’s Oil & Gas Services 2.0 package will use its Predictivity technology for equipment monitoring and pre-emptive maintenance, maximizing uptime.

The project also will benefit from the expertise of the Houston GE Oil & Gas iCenter, which features more than 11 million hours of machine data and is one of three global centers strategically set up in different time zones to ensure 24/7 monitoring and diagnostics services for GE Oil & Gas’ installed fleet.

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