The approval for the proposed project, which will enable Dominion to export LNG from Cove Point terminal on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, follows completion of more than two years of thorough, exhaustive analysis.
In addition to Cove Point LNG export project construction, Dominion will build related facilities at an existing compressor station and at metering and regulating sites in Virginia.
Dominion Energy president Diane Leopold said: "We are pleased to receive this final approval that allows us to start constructing this important project that offers significant economic, environmental and geopolitical benefits.
"Now that our nation is developing a burgeoning surplus of natural gas, Cove Point can help send a small portion of that surplus to allied nation’s looking for stable supplies of clean energy, supporting economic development and replacing coal as a fuel."
The project aims to transport up to 860,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas from existing pipeline interconnects near the west end of the Cove Point Pipeline to the Cove Point terminal for the export of up to 5.75 metric tons of liquefied natural gas per year.
Expected to provide $40m in annual tax revenue to Calvert County, the export project will create thousands of jobs and the construction is estimated to cost between $3.4bn and $3.8bn.
The proposed export facility is expected to commence operation in June 2017, whereas the construction of the related Virginia facilities will start in 2016 and will enter service by March 2017.
