Fortis BC plans further Tilbury LNG expansion

Fortis BC, an investor-owned distribution utility in Canada, is considering an additional expansion at its Tilbury LNG facility to the one currently underway.

The company has in August of 2014 signed a deal to supply Hawaiian Electric with LNG that is still subject to approvals in B.C. and Hawaii.

“At this point we’re still working through all of the details of what would be needed for the potential expansion to serve Hawaii, and are conducting early design work,” Doug Stout, Vice President, Market Development & External Relations of FortisBC said in a statement.

Hawaiian Electric is interested in LNG supplied from Tilbury to help the islands transition off its dependency on imported oil-based power generation, according to Stout.

“Leaders there have committed to aggressive renewable energy goals including a shift to 100 per cent renewables by 2045. They believe natural gas is superior to oil for fuel as a bridge to that goal,” he added.

Fortis BC is already undergoing an expansion at its Tilbury facility which includes an additional 1.1 million gigajoules of LNG storage and 34,000 gigajoules of liquefaction capacity per day.

The expanded operations will come online in 2016 and will be powered by the existing electrical system.

LNG World News Staff; Image: Fortis BC