Enbridge company logos are seen at the company’s annual meeting in Calgary, on May 12, 2016. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh
Enbridge Inc. has broken ground on a $4-billion natural gas pipeline expansion in British Columbia, and its top executive expects the company, best known as a major crude oil shipper, to make more such investments in the future.
“Natural gas is not a transition fuel. Natural gas is a destination fuel, increasingly, for the seven billion people on the planet who do not have access like Canadians do and North Americans do to a low carbon, efficient fuel source,” Greg Ebel told reporters in Prince George, B.C., on Monday.
“Natural gas is on, and very much Enbridge is part of that.”
The project aims to add another 300 million cubic feet per day of transportation capacity by adding about 140 kilometres of new pipe to Enbridge’s existing 2,900-kilometre Westcoast Pipeline. Ebel said that’s enough natural gas to generate power for 1.5 million homes.
Enbridge plans to build 11 looping segments parallel to the existing pipeline, and also boost throughput through compression and other upgrades. The Sunrise project is using Canadian melted and poured steel supplied by InterPro Pipe and Steel in Saskatchewan.
The federal government approved the Sunrise Expansion in April.
Tim Hodgson, the federal natural resources minister, said the quick timeline shows how “Canada has gone from delay to delivery while not losing sight of environmental protection or Indigenous rights and partnerships.”
Canadians have asked whether the country “can still get big things done” and attract the investment it needs, he added.
“Standing here today, I think the answer to those questions is clear: Canada can build big things, Canada will build big things and Canada is building big things today.
Enbridge first announced the expansion four years ago. It was not one of the major projects to be reviewed under an expedited federal process established last year, as it was already well advanced.
In April, after the federal go-ahead was announced, federal Conservative Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said: “Oh, finally. It took them forever. This is an expansion of an existing project that took far too long for the Liberals to consider.”
On Monday, the federal government said Sunrise will help ensure supplies are available to liquefied natural gas export facilities on the West Coast while meeting local needs. Ebel said the resource moving through Sunrise will not be going offshore as liquefied natural gas; about half will be used domestically in B.C., while the rest will be exported via its Westcoast system to the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
Enbridge holds a 30 percent stake in the Woodfibre LNG export terminal under construction in Squamish, B.C.
Last year, an alliance of 38 Indigenous communities in B.C. acquired a 12.5 percent stake in the existing Westcoast. Enbridge has previously said those groups are not obligated to take on equity of the expansion, but have the option to do so.
Chief Dolleen Logan of the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation said the Sunrise project means more than just new infrastructure to Indigenous communities along its path.
“It reflects what is possible when First Nations are involved as partners from the beginning—not simply informed by engaging, but in shaping projects that will impact our lands and our communities.”
The Canadian Press correction: This is a corrected story. An earlier version said an alliance of 28 Indigenous communities had acquired an equity stake in the West Coast pipeline.
