Canada’s Pieridae sees renewed interest in Goldboro LNG

The CEO of Canada’s Pieridae Energy said May 12 his company is seeing renewed interest from governments and others in a shore-based Goldboro LNG project in Nova Scotia, as Europe scrambles to find energy supplies to reduce its reliance on Russia.

Last year, Pieridae paused development of the original 10mn mt/yr shore-based Goldboro LNG project, priced at about C$9bn, and came back with a smaller floating design rated at about 2.8mn mt/yr.

Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. ngc.co.tt

Now, however, the land-based design may be back on the table, given Ottawa’s interest in maximising output to assist its European allies in finding new supply.

“The invasion of Ukraine and the global issues it created has moved countries to aggressively look for alternate, secure supplies of natural gas away from Russia,” Pieridae CEO Alfred Sorensen said. “Pieridae’s proposed net-zero LNG export project off the East Coast continues to make sense and conversations with a broad list of stakeholders are ongoing as many want to see Canada offer leadership in a meaningful way to support a long-term solution by providing Canadian natural gas overseas in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.”

Goldboro LNG, however, isn’t the only east coast LNG project seeing renewed interest from the Canadian government. 

Talks between Ottawa and Repsol are said to be underway evaluating the possible brownfield development of liquefaction and export capacity at the Spanish company’s existing Canaport LNG import and regasification terminal in New Brunswick. 

And LNG Newfoundland and Labrador Limited (LNG-NL) has proposed a floating liquefaction facility, initially to produce 2.5mn mt/yr but expandable to 4mn mt/yr, using stranded gas from the offshore Jeanne d’Arc basin piped to shore through a new 600 km subsea pipeline. Total cost of the pipeline and Phase 1 of the liquefaction terminal has been estimated at US$5.5bn, with first LNG projected in 2030. 

Media reports have indicated LNG-NL’s proponents are also in discussions with Ottawa on how to move the project forward. Those talks could be aided by LNG-NL’s plan to incorporate carbon capture technology at the facility, evaluate a second pipeline that would move captured CO₂ back to the Jeanne d’Arc basin for sequestration in depleted reservoirs there and consider producing blue hydrogen for export to Europe.