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    Canada Advances Funding to Assist LNG Canada, Kitimat

Summary

Federal government to foot bill for new bridge, help pay for turbines

by: Dale Lunan

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Natural Gas & LNG News, Americas, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Political, Ministries, Infrastructure, News By Country, Canada

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Canada Advances Funding to Assist LNG Canada, Kitimat

The Canadian government said June 24 it will provide funding to support LNG Canada’s purchase of high-efficiency gas turbines at its $40bn LNG project in Kitimat, on BC’s northern coast, and to build a new bridge across the Kitimat River.

Federal finance minister Bill Morneau made the announcement in Kitimat: $55mn in funding for a new Haisla Bridge and $220mn to LNG Canada to offset the cost of the turbines. The turbines will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel use, while the new bridge will support and service increased traffic in the area, Morneau said.

“As part of that very significant investment (by LNG Canada), one of the things we needed was a bridge – the Haisla Bridge,” Morneau said. “The federal government saw it as an important part of the investment to come forward with a $55mn investment in that bridge.”

The four-year construction of the bridge, Morneau said, will create about 100 jobs and will make an important contribution to the community “for years and years to come.”

Kitimat mayor Phil Germuth told NGW the $55mn from Ottawa will fund the full cost of the new bridge, although the district might need to do some front-end engineering work ahead of construction.

“We have LNG Canada to thank for that,” Germuth said. “Normally, these types of projects go as P3 projects, in which Ottawa pays a third, the province pays a third and the municipality pays a third, but LNG Canada convinced Ottawa of the tremendous need for a new bridge to support the entire region, and Ottawa came through with full funding.”

The new bridge will only be a modest aid to the LNG Canada project – all of its modules, for example, will be brought in via ocean barges, Germuth said. But it will be a key link for other industrial developments in the area, including the Rio Tinto aluminum smelter next door to LNG Canada’s site, the proposed Woodside-Chevron Kitimat LNG project further down Douglas Channel, and Pacific Traverse Energy’s proposed propane export terminal at Kitimat.

The new bridge will be located about 16 metres upstream from the existing bridge, which will remain in service throughout construction.

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