LNG Canada's $18-billion facility in Kitimat, B.C., is on track to next year begin moving its first shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asia, and is readying to introduce natural gas to the facility any day now.
"The introduction of natural gas and flaring activities mark a pivotal step in LNG Canada’s safe start-up program as we prepare to ship our first cargoes of made-in-B.C. LNG by the middle of 2025," the company said yesterday.
Once the facility receives the natural gas from the Coastal GasLink pipeline, and all safety checks are satisfied, a small flare pilot will be activated at the plant's vapour flare tower, followed by low-level flaring that will take place during the several weeks prior to more visible flaring, according to the company.
All activities will be closely monitored with advance notifications provided to provincial regulatory authorities, local governments and First Nations, LNG Canada said.
The project is a game-changer for the Haisla First Nation.
Crystal Smith, chief of the Haisla First Nation, earlier this year spoke of how the project has brought prosperity to her people.
“It has been absolutely amazing to see the impact for not only Haisla but for the region,” Smith said in June, at the Indigenous Partnership Success Showcase.
The LNG Canada project is about 90 per cent complete. It represents a $40-billion investment, including the $18-billion LNG plant in Kitimat, the Coastal GasLink pipeline and upstream natural gas assets in northeastern B.C.
Outside B.C., there’s little recognition of just how significant the LNG Canada project is for Canada, said Barry Penner, a former BC Liberal attorney general and current chairman of the Energy Futures Initiative.
“It’s clear that there isn’t enough recognition of how strategic and important this is for, not just our province but our country as a whole,” Penner said.
-- With files from Nelson Bennett
