OREANDA-NEWS. Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ) announced today that it has successfully placed into service the first phase of its Hillabee expansion project, expanding the capacity of its Transco pipeline system in Alabama by 818,410 dekatherms per day (Dth/d) to supply Florida power generators via the new Sabal Trail pipeline.

The project was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in February 2016.

Designed to be constructed in three phases, the Hillabee expansion project will add a total of approximately 1,131,730 Dt/d of pipeline capacity to the Transco system by 2021. The project's second phase is scheduled to be in service by the second quarter of 2020, while the third and final phase would be in service by the second quarter of 2021.

“The Hillabee project is an important Transco expansion providing clean-burning natural gas to meet the needs of Florida’s rapidly growing power generation market,” said Frank Ferazzi, senior vice president of Williams Partners’ Atlantic-Gulf operating area. “Together, the Hillabee and Sabal Trail projects connect Florida power generators with Transco’s Station 85 Pool, giving them direct access to robust natural gas supply basins in the Haynesville and Midcontinent area, and soon with the completion of Atlantic Sunrise, to the prolific Marcellus dry gas area in northeastern Pennsylvania.”

The first phase of the Hillabee project included the construction of a new compressor facility in Choctaw County, Ala., approximately 20 miles of pipeline looping, in addition to existing compressor facility modifications.

Construction on the second phase of the project, which will include nearly 11 miles of looping in addition to existing compressor facility modifications, is expected to get underway in the second quarter of 2019.

Transco, the nation’s largest-volume and fastest-growing interstate natural gas pipeline system, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams Partners L.P. Transco delivers natural gas to customers through its 10,200-mile pipeline network whose mainline extends nearly 1,800 miles between South Texas and New York City. The system is a major provider of cost-effective natural gas services that reaches U.S. markets in 12 Southeast and Atlantic Seaboard states.