A public comment period for the Ksi Lisims LNG proposal north of Prince Rupert starts next week, with open houses to be held in Prince Rupert and Terrace Nov.7 and 8.
The project, if built, would be on the scale of the LNG Canada project in Kitimat, which will have an initial production capacity of 14 million tonnes of LNG annually in its first phase. The Ksi Lisims LNG project, which has an estimated capital cost of about $9 billion, would produce 12 million tonnes of LNG annually.
As part of the environmental assessment process – led by the BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) – a public comment period will be held from Nov. 1 to Dec. 1. Open houses will also be held in Prince Rupert on Nov. 7 and in Terrace Nov. 8.
The Ksi Lisims project is backed by the Nisga'a First Nation. It would be built as a floating LNG plant on fee simple land owned by the Nisga'a at the northern tip of Pearse Island, north of Prince Rupert.
Industry partners in the project include Rockies LNG Partnership (a consortium of natural gas producers in B.C. and Alberta), and Houston-based Western LNG.
The Nisga’a are proposing to build a floating LNG plant with electric drive. Most LNG plants burn natural gas to power the chilling process used to liquefy natural gas, which produced CO2. Electric drive dramatically reduces the CO2 that would be generated through natural gas powered turbines.
As for the natural gas supply, Ksi Lisims has selected the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project, which is one of two natural gas pipelines that received environmental permits for other LNG projects that were eventually abandoned.
The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project, owned by TC Energy (TSX,NYSE:TRP), was originally proposed for the Pacific NorthWest LNG project, which was abandoned by Petronas.
The pipeline will need an amendment to its certificate, as a route change will be needed to route the pipeline to Pearse Island.
The Ksi Lisims project description notes that “it is expected that the amended route will consist of two shorter subsea pipelines diverging from the currently approved route and terminating at the site.”
