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Texada eyed for $2-billion gas and power project
Tanker terminal, plant could power 450,000 homes
Aug 01, 2007
By Scott Simpson and Lindsay Kines
An ambitious $2-billion megaproject with the potential to reshape the British Columbia energy sector was announced yesterday by a Calgary-based company.
WestPac LNG Corp. wants to locate a terminal for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, on Texada Island in the Strait of Georgia and build a 600-megawatt electricity generating facility. The imported gas would come in compressed, liquefied form in tanker ships from such places as Russia and Saudi Arabia, with about one ship arriving every 10 days.
The gas-fired thermal generating station would become the largest independent source of electricity in B.C. since Alcan's Kemano project was completed more than 50 years ago. At full power, a 600-megawatt facility would generate enough electricity to power 450,000 homes.
WestPac president Mark Butler told a news conference in Vancouver that there would be enough surplus gas to help supply Terasen's Vancouver Island natural gas pipeline, which already runs down Texada. Butler also said it would be relatively easy for WestPac to link to the B.C. electricity grid; there is a B.C. Transmission Corp. 500-kilovolt transmission line already strung across Texada, connecting Vancouver Island to the mainland.
The project, however, still requires federal and provincial environmental approvals, approval from the B.C. Utilities Commission, a power sales contract with Hydro and a partnership with Terasen -- as well as community support in Texada and nearby Powell River.
Powell River Mayor Stewart Alsgard said the project appears to makes "eminent sense" and will mean significant economic spinoffs.
He acknowledged, however, that the company will first have to satisfy the public and government regulators that the project is safe. "There's a long way to go to get this," he said, "but it has been well-planned and well-presented."
Environmental groups predict the proposal will face opposition from a B.C. public worried about the risks to human safety and the environment, pointing to the recent oil spill in Burnaby as an example of how things can go wrong.
"The majority of British Columbians are totally opposed to tankers in their waters," Will Horter of Victoria's Dogwood Initiative said yesterday, adding that an accident could result in a massive fire or vapour cloud. Also, the tankers or the terminals could be targets for terrorist attacks, he said.
WestPac also announced it's shelving plans for a terminal in Prince Rupert in favour of the bigger Texada project.
WestPac LNG Corp. wants to locate a terminal for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, on Texada Island in the Strait of Georgia and build a 600-megawatt electricity generating facility. The imported gas would come in compressed, liquefied form in tanker ships from such places as Russia and Saudi Arabia, with about one ship arriving every 10 days.
The gas-fired thermal generating station would become the largest independent source of electricity in B.C. since Alcan's Kemano project was completed more than 50 years ago. At full power, a 600-megawatt facility would generate enough electricity to power 450,000 homes.
WestPac president Mark Butler told a news conference in Vancouver that there would be enough surplus gas to help supply Terasen's Vancouver Island natural gas pipeline, which already runs down Texada. Butler also said it would be relatively easy for WestPac to link to the B.C. electricity grid; there is a B.C. Transmission Corp. 500-kilovolt transmission line already strung across Texada, connecting Vancouver Island to the mainland.
The project, however, still requires federal and provincial environmental approvals, approval from the B.C. Utilities Commission, a power sales contract with Hydro and a partnership with Terasen -- as well as community support in Texada and nearby Powell River.
Powell River Mayor Stewart Alsgard said the project appears to makes "eminent sense" and will mean significant economic spinoffs.
He acknowledged, however, that the company will first have to satisfy the public and government regulators that the project is safe. "There's a long way to go to get this," he said, "but it has been well-planned and well-presented."
Environmental groups predict the proposal will face opposition from a B.C. public worried about the risks to human safety and the environment, pointing to the recent oil spill in Burnaby as an example of how things can go wrong.
"The majority of British Columbians are totally opposed to tankers in their waters," Will Horter of Victoria's Dogwood Initiative said yesterday, adding that an accident could result in a massive fire or vapour cloud. Also, the tankers or the terminals could be targets for terrorist attacks, he said.
WestPac also announced it's shelving plans for a terminal in Prince Rupert in favour of the bigger Texada project.
