Port Edward LNG hopes to start out building in fall on its small-scale LNG-for-export plant, 9 km south of Prince Rupert.

CEO Chris Hilliard instructed the Alliance board: “Whether or not it occurs within the fall or whether or not it drags out just a little bit into winter, we’ll lastly break floor and get into our two-year building cycle. So it’s an thrilling time, it’s a frantic time.”

Port Edward LNG might produce as much as 300 tonnes of LNG a day, in contrast with as much as 14 million tonnes by Part One of many LNG Canada mission at Kitimat.

“If LNG Canada is a walk-in freezer, Port Edward LNG is a bar fridge. We’re tiny. We’re about one p.c the scale of LNGC. It’s not bespoke, as an LNG Canada is perhaps. Somewhat, we’re utilizing off-the-shelf expertise, mainly ‘plug and play.’

“Having stated that, it’s nonetheless LNG, so it nonetheless represents a $450-million greenback mission. So, it’s not small in that sense, nevertheless it’s additionally smaller in one other means in that . . . our social influence is smaller. Maybe ‘extra manageable’ could be a great way of describing it.”

Hilliard stated his building timeline is about two years. “And about half of that’s website preparation, as a result of Prince Rupert and space is form of stuffed with hills and ocean and we’ve obtained to show just a little little bit of hill into flat floor in order that’s sophisticated.

“After which we put a small plant on, what quantities to 12 acres. So, once more, by way of measurement, that is very small. Our workforce by the entire building might be about 125 folks and our workforce completely is someplace between 50 and 60 when you embrace trucking jobs.

“So, it’s a really completely different scale than the LNG proponents that you just’re used to speaking to, whether or not that’s LNGC or Cedar or Woodfibre or Ksi Lisims, or any of the opposite 25 or in order that have trundled by BC over the past decade and a half.”

And there’s one other distinction:

“Somewhat than utilizing massive ships and constructing sophisticated docking amenities, Port Edward LNG fills containers, about 40 containers, each single day and we transfer these containers on common container ships. . . .

“And in quite simple financial phrases, folks would say that may’t make sense. ‘You have to make it massive with the intention to obtain financial system of scale.’ What that maybe misses is the price of constructing a brand new pipeline, we don’t have to do this. The price of constructing a brand new dock, we don’t have to do this.

“And on the downstream finish, simply as importantly, if we’re going into a spot in China, they don’t should construct a brand new receiving terminal both; they simply use the prevailing container dock.

“So there are loads of capital-cost financial savings and in addition, importantly, I feel, on the downstream finish, a few of our potential Chinese language clients . . .  truck the LNG from a standard receiving terminal and so they truck it 150, typically 200km, to get it to locations, in order that’s loads of diesel (gas burned by the vehicles).

“We will drop it at a container dock that could be 20 or 30km means. In order that they obtain each price financial savings and environmental pluses in that blend. So it’s a distinct segment play, however we expect it’s an essential one.”

Hilliard stated planning has been beneath means for 3 years, together with approaching First Nations within the area.

“We’ve secured the land, we went about then securing the pipeline entry to the Pacific Northern Gasoline Line. We then began working with BC Hydro and finally the regulator.”

(Posted right here 04 June 2023)