A 204 -meter oil ship has reached the north coast of BC, so it is the first liquefied natural gas carrier (LNG) in reaching kitimat, since an important energy export project is prepared online.
The Maran Gas Roxana, navigating under the flag of Greece, made its way through the Douglas Canal on Wednesday, with a LNG load that will be used for equipment tests at the LNG Canada site.
If everything goes as planned, it is expected to export 14 million tons of natural gas per year, creating about 300 jobs for an estimated value of $ 575 million annually for 40 years, according to the BC government. A phase 2 project proposal would increase the export amount to 28 million tons per year.
At a cost of $ 40 billion, the Canadian government says that the project is the “largest private sector investment in the history of the country”, with the support of Shell, Petronas Petrochina, Misubishi Corporation and Korea Gas Corp.
“LNG Canada wants to thank all the people and organizations involved to help us safely reach this important milestone,” said Vice President of Corporate Relations of LNG Canada, Teresa Waddington, in a statement.
“Together, we are making history.”
LNG projects have been supported by successive liberal BC and PND governments as a key area for economic growth and a reduced dependence on the United States.
Natural Resource Canada estimates that LNG has the potential to add $ 7.4 billion to the national economy per year by opening new markets abroad for products that will otherwise be coast of North America.
With the uncertainty surrounding the commercial relations of Canada-United States, the federal government has recently invested a new money in the development of the BC LNG industry, and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said that “the need to build a resistant economy with new export opportunities for Canadian energy suppliers has never been clearer.”
Critics, however, say that projects undermine the climate objectives of the province by creating more fracking and pipes in general.
Export tests
The GNL Canada plant will receive natural gas, transported through a 670 -kilometer pipe, from near Dawson Creek, cool it and send it to Asian markets.
Before export, gas should be cooled to approximately -160 C to transform it into liquid, which makes it easier and safer to send it. It is estimated that BC has stores of 93 billion cubic meters of natural gas, which are mainly in the northeast.
The gas that reached this week’s carrier has already cooled and will be executed through the system to ensure that everything is operational.
As the test is carried out, the wave will be more frequent and visible in the community as well.
Look | A video produced by LNG Canada on burns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch80is51c
Environmental and electricity concerns
The project has the support of provincial and federal governments, as well as the approval of the first 25 nations.
Its defenders say that LNG is the fossil fossil fuel of the world’s cleanest combustion and helps replace emissions worldwide, contributing to international climate objectives.
Critics, however, argue that GNL creates their own emissions through liquefaction and the transport process, as well as through the drilling and bankruptcy of natural gas.
Earlier this year, a coalition of defenders, companies, academics and the first nations that operate under the BC climate emergency campaign gave BC a failed qualification in several objectives of climate action, partly due to their support for LNG projects.
They say that the construction of mass LNG terminals that require large initial capital investments “are blocked in” future greenhouse gas emissions at a time when the world needs to plan a low carbon future.
“We have to understand that the LNG is not the answer. The market is global, it is volatile and is too dangerous and too destructive,” said the great boss Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of the BC Indian chiefs, which supports the group’s campaign, at a press conference in January.
In the report, it is cited by saying that continuing with the permits and terminal development of GNG, together with fracking, is irresponsible in the midst of a climatic emergency.
A way in which companies are trying to make projects more environmentally friendly through the use of electricity, instead of natural gas, to function, but that presents their own challenges.
According to the documents obtained for the first time by the Narval under requests for freedom of information, an informative note prepared for Prime Minister David Eby in March 2024 showed that three projects, including phase 2 of LNG Canada, would require approximately 1,400 megawatts of energy to function with electricity, the equivalent to feeding approximately 600,000 homes.
Phase 2 of LNG Canada alone would require approximately half of the electricity produced by the newly operational prey of site C, as shown in the documents.
However, the current plan and permits is to use turbines with gasoline if phase 2 progresses, Waddington said.
“We do not rule out the possibility of replacing phase 2 gas turbines with electric transmission turbines at some point, but a series of developments must be taken, including an expansion of the capacity of the hydroelectric network of the province, before contemplating a timeline,” he said in a statement.
