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Floating LNG export terminal proposed for the North Coast

Another LNG export facility has been proposed for the North Coast, but this one is quite different from others in the Prince Rupert area.

Another LNG export facility has been proposed for the North Coast, but this one is quite different from others proposed in the Prince Rupert area.

On Oct. 29, Triton LNG LP applied to the National Energy Board for a 25-year LNG export licence that includes a floating liquefaction storage and offloading (FLSO) vessel, complete with two liquefaction trains and storage for up to 200,000 cubic metres of LNG. The company has identified potential sites "in the vicinity of Kitimat and Prince Rupert" for the project.

Along with the floating facilities, the application includes a marine berth and dock to support the berthing of the FLSO and temporarily dock LNG carriers and shore side facilities including power supply, condensate storage, water supply and the feed pipeline and metering infrastructure.

The FLSO would have a production capacity of 2.3 million tonnes of LNG per year, with the gas being delivered from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin through Westcoast Energy Inc., carrying on business as Spectra Energy Transmission, and connecting to the Pacific Northwest LNG pipeline to the coast. Triton LNG is expecting to complete the feasibility study for the project in 2014, and says LNG exports could begin as early as 2017.

One of the partners in Triton LNG is AltaGas Ltd., an Alberta energy company that recently acquired 11 acres of waterfront land in Port Edward. The other partner is Idemitsu Canada Corporation, a subsidiary of Japan's second largest petroleum company Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd.