With a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission OK granted on May 23 to develop its latest liquefied natural gas export terminal in Louisiana, energy firm Venture Global LNG Inc. is “immediately” starting project construction, its CEO said.

The facility, known as Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2), would be built on 1,150 acres near Venture Global’s existing Calcasieu Pass LNG terminal on the Gulf Coast in Cameron Parish, La.

CP2 would have a nameplate capacity of 20 million metric tons per year and a maximum capacity of 28 million metric tons, and has been estimated to cost up to $28 billion if fully built out.

The owner recently secured $3 billion in bank loans that it said it will put toward CP2. 

“With all federal approvals now in hand we look forward to immediately launching on-site construction on this project that will deliver reliable low-cost U.S. LNG to the world starting in 2027,” company CEO Mike Sabel said in a statement. 

Venture Global previously named Australia-based Worley as its engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project.

The facility is planned to include 36 liquefaction trains, four storage tanks, two marine loading berths and an onsite combined cycle gas turbine power plant with a 1,440-MW capacity. Venture Global also plans to build more than 90 miles of pipeline connecting the facility to the natural gas pipeline grid in Jasper County, Texas. 

The commission originally approved the project last June, but set that approval aside after environmental advocates challenged it in court and called for additional review. In March, U.S. Energy Dept. officials had separately approved the planned facility’s LNG export permits. 

The additional environmental review by FERC determined the project can proceed. The new re-approval is “unlawful and morally indefensible,”  the Southern Environmental Law Center claimed.

“FERC is once again rubber-stamping fossil fuel infrastructure that will permanently displace fishermen, effectively eradicate their way of life, bulldoze fragile coastal wetlands and lock in decades of pollution for export,” said Megan Gibson, the advocacy group’s senior attorney, in a statement.