$100-M Terasen facility `up in air'

Robert Barron
Daily News
June 23, 2005

The future of Terasen's proposed $100 million liquefied natural gas storage facility in Cassidy is "up in the air" now that BC Hydro has terminated the agreement to build a gas-fired electrical generation plant at Duke Point, says a company spokesman.

Dean Pelkey said, now that the power plant project has been terminated, Terasen will have to reexamine the demand for natural gas on Vancouver Island, and associated load factors at present and into the future before any decisions are made on whether the facility will be built.

"Depending on our findings over the next few months, we may decide to move forward with the construction of the facility immediately, or postpone it for a year or two," he said.

"We still believe the storage facility is needed to help supply the natural gas needs on the Island and we think it's just a matter of when the facility will be built."

The proposal from Terasen, formerly Centra Gas, is to build a storage tank capable of holding one-billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas near Timberlands Road.

The facility was intended to feed natural gas to the Duke Point plant, as well as increase Vancouver Island's natural gas supply security to meet current and future gas requirements.

Pelkey said, while the project has already been given the green light to proceed from the B.C. Utilities Commission, he expects Terasen will have to reapply for permission to proceed with the facility with a revamped business plan, if Terasen decides to continue.

"We'd apply to the BCUC for the same project, but we'd have to show it still makes economic sense and the demand is there to justify its construction without the Duke Point project," he said.