FortisBC’s Tilbury LNG expansion gets government backing

The British Columbia government said it will provide regulatory support for proposed expansion at FortisBC’s Tilbury LNG facility in Delta, and proposed upgrades to FortisBC’s natural gas transmission infrastructure in the Lower Mainland.

FortisBC is proposing to invest an additional CAD 400 million to further increase natural gas liquefaction capacity at its Tilbury LNG facility in Delta to meet future domestic and export demands from LNG customers.

The company started construction on its Tilbury LNG facility expansion project on January 21 that will see it add 1.1 million gigajoules of LNG to storage and 34,000 gigajoules per day of liquefaction capacity, FortisBC said in a statement.

The company also intends to advance planned upgrades to its existing natural gas transmission infrastructure in the Lower Mainland to accommodate higher demand for natural gas arising from the development of the Tilbury Island facility, and will construct and operate the new Eagle Mountain pipeline to transport natural gas from the Eagle Mountain compressor in Coquitlam to the proposed Woodfibre LNG facility in Squamish, stands in the B.C. statement.

To provide certainty that will support final investment decisions by LNG proponents and large volume natural gas customers and allow FortisBC to move forward in planning the business aspects of LNG projects, government has exempted these proposed projects from the requirement for a certificate of public convenience and necessity review. FortisBC will still be required to obtain all necessary environmental approvals and other permits as well as consult with the public and First Nations.

Government has also introduced a natural gas transportation tariff that establishes the rate for LNG proponents and large-volume natural gas customers, including Woodfibre LNG. The rate ensures that large industrial proponents will cover the full cost of the new investment and operational costs to serve them in addition to a portion of the costs of the existing system. These customers will also contribute to lower delivery costs for other FortisBC customers due to the large quantities of natural gas moving through the pipeline system.

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