Governor Larry Hogan, Energy Executives Commemorate 20-year Long Agreement with Japan
Maryland, Dominion Delivering Needed Resources for Japan Energy Security
TOKYO, JAPAN (June 4, 2015) – Governor Larry Hogan joined executives from Dominion, one of the largest energy companies in the United States, and representatives from Sumitomo Corp., Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. and The Kansai Electric Power Co. to commemorate a 20-year agreement under which Dominion will produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) at its Cove Point facility in Calvert County for export to Asian customers, including the three aforementioned major Japanese energy companies.
The agreement will bring substantial economic benefits to Maryland, including thousands of skilled construction jobs, 75 permanent jobs and an additional $40 million in annual tax revenue to Calvert County.
“The Cove Point project brings tremendous economic benefits to Maryland and will help secure Japan’s energy future in the wake of the Fukushima accident by delivering stable and competitive LNG to Japan for 20 years,” said Governor Hogan. “I am very proud to join Dominion Energy President Diane Leopold and her leadership team to celebrate this historic agreement, which is one of the largest private investments ever in Maryland.”
Earlier this year, Governor Hogan joined Japanese ambassador to the United States Kenichiro Sasae for a ceremony for Dominion’s Cove Point LNG liquefaction project, which is projected to cost between $3.4 billion and $3.8 billion. When the Cove Point project is completed, the liquefied natural gas shipments are projected to reduce the U.S. imbalance by potentially as much as $7.1 billion annually.
“We are extremely pleased to join with Governor Hogan in celebrating this landmark agreement,” said Diane Leopold, president of Dominion Energy, the company business unit responsible for Cove Point. “This project ‒ with its significant economic, environmental and international relations benefits -‒ would not be possible without the dedicated efforts of many state, local and federal government officials and staff members. We look forward to continuing to be an active and valued corporate citizen of Maryland and Calvert County.”
Construction on the project began in October 2014 and is expected to be complete in late 2017. In addition to producing LNG for the Japanese companies, Dominion also has an agreement with GAIL Global (USA) LNG LLC, a wholly owned indirect U.S. subsidiary of GAIL (India) Limited, one of the largest natural gas processing and distributing companies in India.
Another major energy project being developed by Maryland-based Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) and its Japanese partners, Marubeni Corp and Toyota Tsusho, is also being built in Southern Maryland. When completed, the CPV St. Charles Energy Center in Waldorf will be a state-of-the-art 725-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas-fired electric power generating facility. It will generate enough electricity to power more than 650,000 homes and will be one of the cleanest natural gas facilities ever built in the area.
Maryland has long maintained business and economic ties with Japan. In 2014, Japan was Maryland’s 10th largest export market with $440 million in goods and services, and was the State’s 4th largest import market, with more than $2.2 billion. There are 40 Japanese-headquartered companies in Maryland, the majority of which are in the life sciences industry. More than 25 Maryland-based companies have locations in Japan.
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