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BC LNG maintains aim for 2014 start

BC LNG Export Co-operative will be sending out bids for its production and output possibly as early as this week.

BC LNG Export Co-operative, the partnership between the Haisla and LNG Partners LLC, will be sending out bids for its production and output possibly as early as this week, while they look for a final go-ahead before Christmas this year.

That’s the word from Tom Tatham, managing director for BC LNG.

Earlier this year BC LNG received a 20 year export licence for liquefied natural gas from the National Energy Board.

The Sentinel contacted BC LNG after it received word that new changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act on July 6 would mean certain projects in the country would no longer require an environmental assessment. Douglas Channel Gas Services, one of the arms of the co-op, was among those affected.

Tatham said that this change of policy won’t necessarily speed up development of the LNG facility as they were on track with their schedule already, and said that there’s no cause for concern that they won’t get an assessment because the construcion and operation is fairly small-scale anyway, especially compared to the larger proposals in line for this area.

“Our process was never as involved as the bigger projects,” said Tatham.

He did say they would still work with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans regarding potential impacts on the marine environments.

Meanwhile the company is moving ahead in issuing requests for nominations this week, which will allow companies to bid on supplying the gas and purchasing it for the project’s Train 1. The facility is looking to an initial 700,000 tonnes per year output.

As long as everything falls into place as it’s expected he said that construction should start before the end of this year with an operation date sometime at the end of 2014.

Engineering-wise, BC LNG has some slight alterations to make to its Front End Engineering and Design plan (FEED), to reflect possible changes to its power supply.

Tatham said they are considering self-generation all their electricty after BC Hydro announced changes to its power rates. Tatham said BC Hydro introduced new rates which meant they wouldn’t receive the usual industrial rate for power.

“We’ve told them either you do that or we’re likely to supply our own power,” he said.

He said they’ll decide on their power structure once they firm up their financing.”