Extended outages at Freeport LNG this year were likely caused by defects in its liquefaction trains’ motors, the company claimed in a lawsuit against three engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms.
Freeport LNG Development LP is seeking damages from Zachry Industrial Inc., Chiyoda International Corp. and CB&I Inc., which built and installed the Texas facility’s three electric-drive trains, for alleged faulty work.
In an April petition filed in a Texas district court, Freeport’s lawyers outlined how crews reportedly found the technical faults in January while doing maintenance work after a system trip on Train 3.
“Initial investigations indicated that the likely cause of the trip was an electrical fault within a non-accessible portion of” the train’s motor. A root cause analysis pointed to bolts or nuts from a protective panel becoming dislodged and falling into the motor’s inner workings, according to the suit.
Freeport reportedly found similar issues with other motors at Train 3, as well as defects in the related equipment for Train 1 and 2.
Freeport has reported multiple issues with its trains since the beginning of the year that have interrupted liquefied natural gas production, including a valve malfunction on Train 2’s propane compressor at the end of last month.
Feed gas demand and LNG production capacity at the facility was limited, sometimes dropping to near-zero, from January to mid-May. The company has previously disclosed freezing cold during a January winter storm caused electrical issues with one of the electric motors in Train 3. The event prompted Freeport to initiate extended maintenance and inspections on all of its trains.
The company finished work on Train 3 in March, but experienced more outages across the facility that have kept a demand-hungry natural gas market on its toes.
At full capacity, Freeport LNG is able to produce about 2 Bcf/d.
The lawsuit didn’t mention issues with equipment before January 2024, including the explosion at the plant that stopped production for around nine months in 2022. Federal investigators tied that incident to an overpressured stretch of piping in the facility’s LNG transfer system and mandated operational changes.
Zachry recently filed for bankruptcy, which may impact the timeline of the Golden Pass LNG project, also in Texas. Zachry entered the project as part of an EPC joint venture with Chiyoda and McDermott, parent company of CB&I.
