Williams Cos. Inc. received a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authorizing the Southeastern Trail expansion project designed to serve Transco pipeline markets in the Mid-Atlantic and US Southeast in time for the 2020-21 winter heating season.
The expansion project will consist of 7.7 miles of 42-in. pipeline looping facilities in Virginia, horsepower additions at existing compressor stations in Virginia, and piping and valve modifications on other existing facilities in South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana to allow for bidirectional flow. Once completed, the project will result in a net reduction of air emissions as legacy facilities are modified with state-of-the-art horsepower technology. The expansion project will provide 296,375 dekatherms/day of additional firm transportation capacity to utility and local distribution companies in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
Following the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, Williams expects construction on the project to begin this year with a target in-service date of November 2020.
The Southeastern Trail project is Williams’ third Transco project to be approved by FERC in the last 10 months. With the expansion, the Transco pipeline’s system-design capacity is expected to increase to 17.5 million dekatherms/day from 17.2 million dekatherms/day. Combined with other expansion projects under construction or in various levels of permitting, Williams expects the Transco pipeline’s system-design capacity to top 18 million dekatherms/day in time for the 2020-21 winter heating season.