Feds OK gas terminal off Gloucester

The federal government for the second time in six weeks has approved the construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal in Massachusetts Bay.

U.S. Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton granted a license, with conditions, to Excelerate Energy for an LNG facility 13 miles off the coast of Gloucester. Excelerate subsidiary Northeast Gateway's facility would increase the region's delivery capacity by 8 percent.

"It is clear to me that the Northeast Gateway Deepwater Port will fill a vital role in meeting our national energy requirements for many years to come," Connaughton wrote in 50-page approval released Thursday.

It would be New England's first offshore LNG facility. Liquefied natural gas is warmed to make natural gas used in heating, cooking, and electricity generation.

The construction cost is $200 million, according to Connaughton.

On Jan. 30, Suez Energy North America won approval from the Maritime Administration for its Neptune offshore LNG facility about 7 miles off the Gloucester coast.

Both facilities would use underwater pipelines to connect to New England's distribution network.

Excelerate, based in The Woodlands, Texas, said the approval keeps its project on schedule to begin natural gas deliveries to New England in December. The company already has built the world's first offshore LNG terminal in the Gulf of Mexico.

Connaughton's conditions include water quality monitoring, and construction restrictions so that acoustic sound disturbance to the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale can be avoided.

Both projects already received state approval. (AP)