Texada Island Terminal
Texada Island LNG will be a combined natural gas and power generation facility that will play an important role in solving BC's current and forecast power deficit. WestPac's Texada Island terminal will be positioned to receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) from southeast Asia, the Pacific Rim and the Middle East.
The project provides substantial regional and provincial economic and environmental benefits and is a continuation of WestPac's distributed energy and power supply strategy for BC coastal communities. It will enable the development of wind, run-of-river hydro and other green power solutions by providing necessary firming capacity for these intermittent types of power generation. (Firm electricity refers to electricity that is available and reliable at all times even in adverse conditions.) The project could also contribute to improving air quality in the Fraser Valley by enabling the decommissioning of the Burrard Thermal Generating Station.
LNG is safe and offers the best available environmental option for today's power and energy needs compared with other existing options for firm power generation: nuclear, coal, oil, and wood fiber fuels, and creation of new large hydro plants (including reservoirs and the necessary long-distance transmission lines to carry electricity to markets).
The location near Kiddie Point on Texada Island offers a unique and appropriate location for cogeneration because of its industrial heritage (comprising extensive current and past quarrying), onsite access to the Vancouver Island gas pipeline, and nearby connection to the BC Hydro power grid midpoint on the island. The Kiddie Point marine terminal location calls for minimal new infrastructure to meet future energy demand.
The project will include a marine jetty capable of safely receiving double-hulled LNG carriers of up to 165,000m3 capacity, smaller capacity barges and tugboats, with transfer piping to onshore LNG storage tanks. WestPac expects up to about 36 LNG carriers a year to arrive at its facility, or one every ten days or so, an increase of less than one percent above existing vessel traffic.
Onshore, there will be two full-containment LNG storage tanks, each with a gross volume of 165,000m3 capacity for storing LNG. There will also be an LNG re-gasification plant with a capacity of up to 500 million cubic feet per day; in-tank and external LNG export and trans-shipment pumps; a vapour handling system, and pipeline interconnection and compression. The power generation facility comprises natural gas-fired turbines and heat-recovery steam generators, with a sub-station, a 500kV transformer and short interconnection line to the existing transmission line on Texada Island that delivers electricity from the B.C. mainland to Vancouver Island. The co-location of the LNG and power generation facilities will enable WestPac to minimize power needs (and associated emissions) by using waste heat from the power generation turbines to re-gasify the LNG.
When appropriate, WestPac will formally begin the regulatory review and environmental assessment process for the project. This is currently anticipated to be early 2009. WestPac's first step will be to file a Project Description with the BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. The EAO will coordinate a single harmonized federal-provincial environmental assessment, based on the provincial process.
We will actively consult the community and respond to any and all concerns as we carry out our feasibility and environmental studies.
Once the detailed project description is available, it will be posted on this website for public information.