Quebec LNG backers promise more improvements

More than a month after Quebec’s provincial regulatory authority submitted a report into the 11mn mt/yr Energie Saguenay LNG project, its proponent promised April 21 more improvements in an effort to win government approval.

The Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) submitted its report to Benoit Charette on March 10 but made no recommendations as to whether the C$9bn (US$7.1bn) project should be approved or rejected, GNL Quebec said in a French-language blog post on its web site.

“The BAPE raises about 50 opinions and, since last fall’s hearings, the GNL Quebec team continues to work to raise industry standards from a technical, social and environmental point of view,” it said. “Moreover, the global energy situation has changed since the conclusion of the BAPE hearings with, for example, the addition of natural gas to the European green recovery.”

The filing of the report, which was publicly released on March 24, represents an opportunity to maximise the benefits of the project, GNL Quebec said. That will be the focus of its efforts over the next few months, ahead of an expected late-summer decision from the provincial government.

Since BAPE published its report, GNL Quebec said, several municipalities in the region have adopted resolutions in support of the project, including the City of Saguenay, the municipalities of Saint-Honore and Saint-David-de-Falardeau and the regional municipality of Fjord-du-Saguenay.

“These resolutions, as well as those to come, demonstrate in a very tangible way significant support within the municipal authorities and the population of the region,” it said. “They are added to the mobilisation of more than 37,000 citizens who support the project in the Sag-Lac LNG group on Facebook.”

GNL Quebec said it intends to announce other commitments addressing the BAPE’s concerns, concluding that “in light of recent developments and ongoing negotiations with potential customers” it is “more than convinced” that its project has a role to play in the global natural gas market and in global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Natural gas is and will be a key energy source in the global energy transition, especially as policies around the world are pushing the industry to be increasingly efficient at the environmental level, with Canada leading through its regulatory standards,” it said.