Tetra Tech provided siting, permitting and licensing services for the Northeast Gateway Energy Bridge Deepwater Port (NEG Port), operated by Excelerate Energy, LLC. The Northeast Gateway Port is the second licensed deepwater port in the United States. 

The deepwater port consists of two subsea Submerged Turret Loading™ buoys which support the docking of specially designed Energy Bridge™ Regasification Vessels and the transport of approximately 2.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The NEG Port is connected to the Northeast U.S. natural gas grid through a subsea pipeline lateral. The NEG Port is located approximately 13 miles offshore in United States’ federal waters in Massachusetts Bay.

To minimize one of the operation’s potential impacts, the NEG Port is the first liquefied natural gas terminal to integrate advanced marine mammal acoustic detection systems. The systems use buoys to detect the presences of whales and other mammals that frequent Massachusetts Bay and transmit the information to ships. Development of the NEG Port also involved improvements in the Excelerate Energy shipping fleet, including a greater than 90% reduction in nitrogen oxide and a greater than 98% reduction in water usage.

Tetra Tech provided the following services during project development: 

• Alternatives analysis and determination of preferred site
• Impact analysis for the Port
• Preparation of environmental reports, permit applications, and filings with federal, state, and local agencies
• Supervision of outreach efforts to Gloucester, Salem, and other North Shore communities

Since this project was permitted and constructed, Tetra Tech has managed environmental compliance and monitoring in support of Port operations.

Tetra Tech is also supporting the ongoing permit revaluation and reapplication for the first deepwater port, Gulf Gateway, also developed by Excelerate, which has been operating in the Gulf of Mexico since 2005.