Local Teachers Visit Southern LNG


Local Teachers participate in a demonstration during a visit to Southern LNG
Local Teachers participate in a demonstration during a visit to Southern LNG

In 2008, Southern LNG at Elba Island and the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project came together to provide local educators with the opportunity to learn more about energy, liquefied natural gas, and energy in their local community.

The Savannah Chatham County Public Schools, as well as local private and charter schools were invited to participate in this pilot project to provide educators with materials and teacher training needed to energize their classrooms.

Southern LNG, as part of El Paso Corporation, owns and operates the Elba Island LNG terminal. Chris Humes, General Manager, along with Keith Etheridge, Training Director of the NEED Project facilitated training and performed demonstrations for the educators.

Southern LNG is a regasification facility on Elba Island, in Chatham County, Georgia, five miles downstream from Savannah, Georgia.

The initial authorization for the Elba Island facility on April 10, 2003, FERC issued an order authorizing the expansion of the facility, which included adding a second and third docking berth, a fourth cryogenic storage tank, and associated facilities.

The expansion enabled an increase of working gas capacity and an increase of the firm sendout rate.

El Paso Corporation, the owner of

Shown (L-R) Oney Temple, Regional Director, Southern Natural Gas, State Senator Lester Jackson, and Chris Humes, General Manager Elba Island Southern LNG
Shown (L-R) Oney Temple, Regional Director, Southern Natural Gas, State Senator Lester Jackson, and Chris Humes, General Manager Elba Island Southern LNG
the Southern LNG facility, announced the start up of the expanded facility, called Elba II, on February 01, 2006. The expansion cost approximately $157 million and adds 3.3 billion cubic feet equivalent of storage capacity and 540 million cubic feet per day of peak send-out capacity.

With such an interesting and timely resource right in the local community, the NEED Project approached the El Paso Foundation for support of energy curriculum materials and workshop support for SCCPS educators.

Throughout 2008, NEED worked with LNG technical experts and educators to create the Science of LNG curriculum guide that was launched at the March 13, 2009 Elba Island workshop.

During the workshop participating educators learned about energy forms and transformations and the energy we use in our local community each day to light our lights, cook our food, and run our cars and buses. Each participating educator was provided NEED’s Science of Energy kit on loan for use in their classroom compliments of Southern LNG/El Paso.

The educators were treated to a tour of Elba Island and an LNG demonstration and presentation from Christopher Humes, Manager of Elba Island and DaWayne Penberthy, Director of Marine Operations.

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