TransCanada to build $5B natural gas pipeline across northern BC
by Canadian Manufacturing Daily Staff
Chosen by Progress Energy to build, own, operate 750-kilometre transmission line to Pacific Coast
VANCOUVER—TransCanada has been pegged to build a $5-billion natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia.
The Calgary-based firm was selected by Progress Energy to design, build, own and operate the approximately 750-kilometre pipeline that will ship natural gas from northeastern B.C. to the recently-announced Pacific Northwest LNG export facility near Prince Rupert, B.C.
“The proposed Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project will allow British Columbians, and all Canadians, to continue to benefit from the responsible development of the growing supply of valuable natural gas resources in the WCSB (Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin),” TransCanada president and CEO Russ Girling said in a statement.
TransCanada expects the pipeline to have an initial capacity of two-billion cubic feet of gas per day, with the ability to expand to 3.6-billion cubic feet daily.
The company says the project will create approximately 2,500 construction jobs over three years, with an anticipated in-service date of late 2018.
The pipeline deal with Progress Energy comes about six months after TransCanada was chosen by Shell Canada to build a similar natural gas pipeline in B.C.
That project, announced in June 2012, would see some 1.7-billion cubic feet per day of natural gas shipped some 700 kilometres from the Dawson Creek, B.C., area near Grande Prairie, Alta., to Kitimat, B.C., southeast of Prince Rupert.
TransCanada is also proposing a $1.5-billion project to extend its existing NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. system in northeast B.C. to connect both to the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project and gas supplies in northeastern B.C.
The expansion has an in-service date targeted for the end of 2015.
All projects are subject to regulatory approval.
