Canadian Province Won't Provide Dollars for Nova Scotia LNG Project

An LNG facility planned in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia enjoys support from the provincial government, though premier Iain Rankin said March 18 his administration would not back it financially.

Pieridae Energy has the permits in place to build its 10mn mt/yr Goldboro LNG project, and according to media reports has been lobbying the Canadian government for funding to support the project and advance it toward a positive final investment decision by the end of June. But speaking to reporters, Rankin said Pieridae had not approached his government for financial support.

“We would not be submitting any financial resources to that project,” he stressed.

But he did favour the project as a bridge to a clean energy future. Since entering office early this year, Rankin said he’s been an ardent support of a sharp pivot away from coal by way of cleaner fuels such as LNG.  

“There would be an uptick of carbon here in the province, but internationally, it makes sense environmentally,” he said. “And it makes sense economically for our province.”

In December, the company said it set aside about C$12.5 (US$10)mn for pre-FID development expenditures and would expect post-FID expenditures of around C$275mn for highway re-alignment, a down payment on workforce accommodations, marine offloading facilities and site preparation work.

Assuming FID this year, it would then start a five-year gas drilling program in western Canada to provide feed gas for Goldboro’s first 5mn mt/yr liquefaction train. 

Asked about the criticism that natural gas is still a polluting fossil fuel, Rankin said the net benefits outweighed the disadvantages.

“It impacts our economy here and allows us to bring in more revenue to spend on fighting climate change, transitioning to electrifying our transportation system and bringing our buildings to net-zero,” he said. “So I acknowledge there are differences of opinion, but natural gas is something that’s cleaner than coal.”