Broadwater Energy
Broadwater Energy was a Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal proposed to be built in Long Island Sound between New York State and Connecticut. The project received vociferous objections from Connecticut officials and some New York state officials.
| Broadwater Energy | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Proposed Liquified Natural Gas Terminal |
| Location | Riverhead (town), New York, New York |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 41°06′2.87″N 72°50′44.56″W |
| Owner | TransCanada Corporation and Shell Oil |
| Website | |
| www | |
New York state officials had yet to decide whether to issue permits for the project as of March 2008, and Governor David Paterson said he might postpone a decision, originally scheduled to be made in April 2008 on whether to support the terminal. The terminal received federal approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on March 21, 2008, but energy analysts have said that state rather than regulators generally have the decisive role in deciding whether liquefied natural gas terminals may be built.
It is to be operated by Broadwater Energy L.L.C., a joint venture by TransCanada Corporation and Shell Oil for the transfer of liquefied natural gas from ships to pipelines. The proposed floating unit would be about nine miles (14 km) north of Wading River, New York and 10 miles (16 km) south of New Haven, Connecticut -- the widest point in the Sound. After being unloaded, the liquefied gas would be warmed back into a gas and pumped through pipelines (with the specific pipeline on the bottom of the sound called the "Iroquois Gas Transmission." The company calls the term a "Floating Storage Regasification Unit," or FSRU. It is expected 1 billion cubic feet (28,000,000 m3) of natural gas per day into the pipeline.
The terminal would be about 1,200 feet (370 m) long and 180 feet (55 m) wide and would rise about 75 to 80 feet (24 m) above the water. It would have the capability to stockpile eight billion cubic feet of gas. The project also involves the laying of a 22-mile (35 km) long pipeline from the platform to the Iroquois line (off the shore the village of Nissequogue, New York).
Broadwater's website notes advantages to consumers of cutting the cost of natural gas, cleaner fuel than oil, and the lack requirements to build onshore.
The State of New York which has territorial jurisdiction over the sound will have ultimate decisions on whether it will permit the project. Broadwater says on its website the project if built on plan between 2009 and 2010 would cost $20 million directly.