FortisBC has finalized an agreement with BC Ferries to provide three new vessels with liquefied natural gas over the next 10 years.
The utilities provider announced February 2 it would supply 300,000 gigajoules of LNG — or the energy equivalent of 7.8 million litres of diesel fuel — to the ferry service beginning next year.
It would take three Olympic-sized swimming pools to hold 7.5 million litres of water.
The first of the three new ships is expected to enter service in August 2016, replacing the outgoing Queen of Burnaby and Queen of Nanaimo.
The Queen of Burnaby serves the Comox-Powell River route, while Queen of Nanaimo serves the Tsawwassen-Gulf Islands route.
The third vessel is expected to be delivered by February 2017 and will help service along the Tsawwassen-Gulf Islands route.
All three are being built in Poland and have dual-fuel capability, allowing them to run on both LNG and diesel.
The entire project is slated to cost $252 million, which includes $51 million allocated to cover taxes and federal import duties.
FortisBC is providing $6 million in incentive funding for the project — about 2.3% of the total cost.
The LNG will come from an expanded Tilbury facility in Delta and the Mt. Hayes facility on Vancouver Island.
BC Ferries told Business In Vancouver last July that it spent $126 million on diesel fuel in 2013, but internal number-crunching indicates it could cuts those costs in half by relying on LNG.
