U.S. LNG company Venture Global LNG has agreed to buy natural gas for its Plaquemines LNG export plant in Louisiana, expected to start up in 2024, from a unit of U.S. energy company NextEra Energy Inc .

Venture Global said it filed the gas supply agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy on March 22. The company, however, did not provide details of that agreement.

The deal with NextEra followed an earlier gas supply agreement with a unit of Spanish energy company Repsol SA.

Venture Global started early site work on Plaquemines, which is located about 20 miles (32 km) south of New Orleans, in 2021.

The company has said construction firm Zachry Group will work with engineering firm KBR Inc. to build the first phase at Plaquemines.

The venture, called KZJV, will install modular liquefaction trains at Plaquemines that are similar to systems at Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass export plant in Louisiana.

Plaquemines would produce up to 20 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG or 2.6 Bcf/d of natural gas. Analysts have said that the plant would cost about $8.9 billion and could start producing first LNG in 2024.

In total, Venture Global has about 70 mtpa of LNG export capacity in operation, construction or development in Louisiana, including the 10-mtpa Calcasieu Pass (operation and construction), 20-mtpa Plaquemines (construction), 20-mtpa Delta (development) and 20-mtpa CP2 (development).

Venture Global has entered long-term agreements to sell LNG to units of several companies around the world, including China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec), Shell Plc, BP Plc, Edison SpA, Galp Energia SGPS SA and Polish Oil and Gas Co (PGNiG).