NextDecade Corporation, a company focused on LNG exports, executed agreements with Cameron County, Texas, securing tax incentives for its Rio Grande LNG project at the Port of Brownsville.
The tax abatement agreements are aligned with distinct phases of the project and provide for the full abatement of County property taxes for each phase’s first ten years of operations, NextDecade said.
Subject to a positive final investment decision, Rio Grande LNG agrees to pay $2.7 million in payments-in-lieu-of-taxes during each year of tax abatement for all phases. Additionally, the Rio Grande LNG agrees to provide up to $10 million to fund community projects and to maximize the hiring of local residents during construction and operations.
Speaking of the tax incentives agreement, NextDecade’s CFO, Ben Atkins said they are essential to the project’s competitiveness.
The Rio Grande LNG project is in the advanced stages of its regulatory approval process with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and hopes to receive all necessary approvals by mid-2018, allowing for a final investment decision later that year and first LNG in 2022.
At full buildout, the facility will have the capacity to produce 27 mtpa of the chilled fuel per year.