A proposed liquefied natural gas plant for the Saanich Inlet is a “very, very, very long way off” — if it gets approved at all, Premier Christy Clark said Wednesday.
Clark said Steelhead LNG’s plans for the former Bamberton industrial lands are more complicated than those of the Petronas-led Pacific NorthWest LNG project that received conditional federal approval Tuesday.
She noted that the project depends on the company getting permission to move Canadian gas from northern B.C. and Alberta, through the United States and back to Canada along a proposed 129-kilometre pipeline from Sumas, Washington, to Bamberton.
“I mean, we’re waiting to even see if it will get approval from the Americans at this point,” Clark said. “And I don’t know. The Petronas project, which has taken so long, was a lot simpler, even when it comes to approvals. The Steelhead project is going to be very complicated. I would say that one’s too early to call.”
Steelhead LNG wants to build a liquefaction and export facility on the former industrial lands now owned by the Malahat First Nation. The project calls for floating liquefaction production facilities moored to jetties along the shoreline about seven kilometres south of Mill Bay.
Nigel Kuzemko, Steelhead’s chief executive officer, acknowledged that winning approval for the Malahat LNG project and pipeline will be a lengthy and complicated process.
“I do agree with the premier that we’re a long way off,” he said. “Petronas is now getting its approval. We haven’t even put in our project description yet, because we’re taking our time understanding all those community concerns about the project.”
Nevertheless, Kuzemko said, the company continues to make progress and recently reached a deal with Alberta-based Seven Generations Energy Ltd. to supply gas.
The Malahat First Nation issued a statement noting that the scale of the Steelhead project is “significantly smaller” than the Pacific NorthWest LNG proposal.
“Steelhead LNG is planning to build an at-shore facility moored to the foreshore, which will reduce impacts compared to a land-based facility, like Pacific NorthWest LNG,” said Renee Racette, the nation’s chief executive officer.
B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan expressed doubt that the Saanich Inlet project will ever get off the ground.
“I’ve never thought that that was a viable project and I don’t think anyone who knows the industry thinks it’s a viable project, either,” he said.
