bc2007: New power plant proposed in B.C.

New power plant proposed in B.C.

COMMENT: The Kitimat LNG project is sliding sideways into the long list of projects in BC that have been approved (Holberg and Knob Hill wind, GSX Pipeline, Duke Point Generation, even a 1990s LNG export project in the northeast) and shelved, as the economic viability gets tested by risk-adverse investors and lenders.

So, maybe the cost of Kitimat LNG, and necessary pipeline additions and increasing demand for LNG abroad and moderating prices of natural gas in North America and more LNG terminals closer to US continental demand markets - maybe all of this has nearly snuffed Kitimat LNG.

Now they're taking a flier on a gas-fired generation plant. Well, duh, hello!

Didn't the 2007 Energy Plan in effect say no more greenhouse gases from electricity generation? Wasn't Special Order 10 to the BC Utilities Commission effectively an order to put Burrard Thermal out of commission and to not factor thermal energy into BC's generation base for self-sufficiency? Didn't Duke Point get snuffed, and it's much closer to electricity demand centres?

It's silly season in BC's energy sector again. I can't anticipate what's next.

Calgary Herald
Saturday, July 28, 2007

Calgary-based Kitimat LNG announced on Friday that it is in negotiations with potential partners to build a combined-cycle power plant to be located in B.C.

"We are looking to sign a MoU (memorandum of understanding) in the next three months," said Rosemary Boulton, president of Kitimat LNG. "The next stage will be defining the cost and related commercial issues."

With a generation capacity of 250-to-500 mega watts, the plant will provide power to the BC electric grid and also the proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to be built at Port of Kitimat.

The estimated $700 million, seven-million-tonne-per-year Kitimat project will be the first LNG complex planned to be built in Western Canada. Construction will take 36 months, with a targeted project startup in 2010-11. Regasified gas from the complex will be primarily supplied to Alberta's burgeoning market, led by the oilsands projects, besides other markets in B.C., and the Pacific Northwest.

Posted by Arthur Caldicott on 28 Jul 2007