Canada’s Pieridae delays Goldboro LNG project

Canada’s Pieridae Energy said on Thursday it postponed a final investment decision to build the Goldboro LNG export plant in Nova Scotia due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The liquefied natural gas export project will be delayed beyond September 30, 2020.

Pieridae Energy previously expected to take a decision to build the $10 billion project in the third quarter of 2020 and start producing LNG between November 2024 and May 2025.

“Market conditions and the global fallout from COVID-19 have impacted our ability to make a final investment decision this fall”, Pieridae’s chief executive Alfred Sorensen said.

A further announcement will be made once COVID-19 conditions improve and markets stabilize, Pieridae said.

The Goldboro LNG facility will have two trains with a combined production capacity of 9.6 million tonnes per year.

The construction of the facility is expected to take 56 months while employing about 4,500 local workers during peak construction.

Pieridae has a 20-year agreement with German utility Uniper for all of the volumes from the first Goldboro liquefaction train starting between November 30, 2024 and May 31, 2025.

Pieridae said it is negotiating with Uniper to extend the final investment decision deadline to June 2021 and “believes it will obtain this extension.”