Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP is located on the Chesapeake Bay
in Cove Point, Maryland, south of Baltimore. It is one of the nation's largest
liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facilities. Dominion acquired Cove Point
from Williams on Sept. 5, 2002, and began receiving ships in the summer of 2003.
Explore the left-margin links to learn more about the facility and LNG.
Dominion Cove Point will play an increasingly critical role
in coming years. Natural gas is the energy of choice for many Americans, and
demand is expected to grow by at least 20 percent over the next decade. Although
there are vast reserves of natural gas in the United States, many are not
yet available.
Reserves
in a number of other countries are available and for sale, but the gas
has to be transported.
The most efficient way to transport natural gas across
the ocean is to liquefy it and ship it in specially built tankers.
Dominion Cove Point is strategically located where it
can receive LNG tankers, store the LNG onshore, then transform it back
to gas when it is needed to meet demand.
LNG is transported in large ships that
are fitted with a special cargo containment system inside the inner hull
to maintain the LNG at atmospheric pressure and minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit.
(Click for an expanded view.)
Facility Operation
Dominion Cove Point has a storage capacity of 7.8 billion
cubic feet (BCF) and a daily send-out capacity of 1 BCF.
LNG is arriving
at Dominion Cove Point on specially designed LNG ships. These vessels
transport LNG from various locations in the world, including Trinidad,
Nigeria, Norway, Venezuela and Algeria.
At Dominion Cove Point, LNG is off-loaded at an offshore dock, stored
for subsequent gasification and then delivered into the pipeline. View
a drawing of the process. A single ship can bring about 34 million
gallons of LNG — enough to meet the daily energy needs of more than
10 million homes.
LNG is pumped from ships at Cove Point's offshore dock through a series
of pipes to insulated storage tanks.
In addition to linking natural gas supplies from non-U.S.
sources with the high-growth natural gas markets in the Mid-Atlantic, Dominion
Cove Point is positioned to serve existing Dominion Energy gas-fired generation
facilities.
These include Possum Point, Remington, Ladysmith and Fairless Works.