Kinder Morgan Inc. received FERC approval for a $2-billion project to build 10 liquefaction units at its Elba Island, Ga., LNG terminal to export volumes from the facility beginning in second-quarter 2018. The remaining nine units are scheduled to be added by the end of 2018.

The 2.5-million-metric-tons-per-year project is backed by a 20-year contract with Royal Dutch Shell plc, which was an original partner in the project before having its 49% interest bought out by Kinder Morgan. The project will use Shell’s small-scale liquefaction unit technology to complete construction faster, while still maintaining the capacity of larger-scale units.

It was also announced that Elba Express Co. LLC and Southern Natural Gas Co. LLC received FERC approval for $306 million in additional compression and related work for north-to-south capacity expansions on the Elba Express Pipeline. The pipeline will supply additional gas to industrials and utilities in Georgia and Florida, and to Elba Island for liquefaction. Facilities for these pipeline projects are expected to be placed in service late in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Frank Nieto can be reached at fnieto@hartenergy.com.