Kitimat LNG commits to electrification

[misher]

https://biv.com/article/2019/04/kiti...lectrification

A promise made in Kitimat today that the Chevron-Woodside Kitimat LNG project would use electric drive would be a game-changer, if fulfilled, not just for the LNG industry in B.C., but for independent power producers."]A promise made in Kitimat today that the Chevron-Woodside Kitimat LNG project would use electric drive would be a game-changer, if fulfilled, not just for the LNG industry in B.C., but for independent power producers.

That is no mean pledge, as it would significantly lower the project’s greenhouse gas emissions profile, and significantly increase the demand for power. It would also meet the strict new best-in-class emissions benchmarks set out in the CleanBC plan.
The amount of power that would be needed for a large LNG plant using e-drive would be roughly two-thirds of the power that would be produced by Site C dam, according to Jihad Traya, an energy adviser for Solomon Associates.

While Site C’s nameplate capacity is 1,100 megawatts (MW), it will have an average generating capacity of about 650 MW, Traya said.

Each train powered by electricity would take about 200 MW. The Kitimat LNG project calls for two trains. If the Pacific Trail Pipeline that would supply the plants with natural gas was also electrified, that would mean the electricity demand from that one project could consume as much power as the new Site C dam will produce.

That might mean that independent power producers – pretty much shut out of B.C. with the sanctioning of Site C dam – could be back in business in B.C. But before anyone gets too excited, Traya points out that the Kitimat LNG project is still a decade away.

This is amazingly huge news if it happens. Wow good time to be investing into energy. Makes the NDP look amazing, makes Weaver look like an idiot, and helps justify Site C. Not sure how much the NDP had to do with this but I know there going to be getting a lot of kudos.

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by misher

https://biv.com/article/2019/04/kiti...lectrification




This is amazingly huge news if it happens. Wow good time to be investing into energy. Makes the NDP look amazing, makes Weaver look like an idiot, and helps justify Site C. Not sure how much the NDP had to do with this but I know there going to be getting a lot of kudos.

I think if this goes though, Site C will be too little power. Site C is already needed to support electrification of transportation.

I wonder- what's going to happen to these projects when natural gas stops being a big hit, either because a fracking boom occurs in Asia, or renewables/nuclear take over?

It seems like it might have a pretty limited lifespan.

[svlt]

I rolled my eyes whenever people argued additional power wasn't necessary for this province, it's as if they can't foresee population, industry and infrastructure changes and growth necessitating more clean(ish) power past five years. It's ironic some of these people are climate change activists as well, considering we won't really be feeling the effects of that directly for some time as well, but are (rightly) advocating to do as much as we can in advance of that.

Re: LNG... this is why companies perhaps are in such a rush to capture the market demand while it's still there right now. It may not be a valuable resource to develop forever, but it sure would be a feather in the cap for NDP as a decent centrist party if they can tap into it while there are still customers for it.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by svlt

I rolled my eyes whenever people argued additional power wasn't necessary for this province, it's as if they can't foresee population, industry and infrastructure changes and growth necessitating more clean(ish) power past five years. It's ironic some of these people are climate change activists as well, considering we won't really be feeling the effects of that directly for some time as well, but are (rightly) advocating to do as much as we can in advance of that.

See, certain radical elements of environmentalism believe that we can power the entire planet with nothing except wind and solar and pixie dust. Not sure if Weaver is one of them, but his career partially depends on him siding with them.

Originally Posted by svlt

Re: LNG... this is why companies perhaps are in such a rush to capture the market demand while it's still there right now. It may not be a valuable resource to develop forever, but it sure would be a feather in the cap for NDP as a decent centrist party if they can tap into it while there are still customers for it.

So long as the NDP doesn't decide to buy it and build it themselves - that option doesn't work out very well.