INNOVATION July-August 2014

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annually. Appache will manage the development and production from gas fields in the Laird and Horn River basins in Northeastern BC and will move natural gas to Kitimat via the 480-kilometre Pacific Trail pipeline. Chevron will oversee the liquefaction plant and export facility. Currently, they expect the project to be fully operational before the end of 2015. In November 2013, the National Energy Board granted an export licence for the Woodfibre LNG project, which is planned for the site of a former Western Forest Products pulp and paper mill located seven kilometres south- west of Squamish. Construction could begin as early as May 2015, provided the environmental assessment is complete and other permits are in hand, and the first shipment of liquid natural gas could leave Squamish in the first quarter of 2017. The final decision to go ahead with construc-

Woodfibre LNG’s current site, owned by Western Forest Products.

is the one to proceed with,” says Gelotti. “The key things you need are enough land, a gas pipeline, electrical power generation and a deep water port that is protected from wind, waves and currents and is located as close as possible to your markets. This site has all those things.” A FortisBC pipeline runs past the site though a portion of it would have to be twinned to deliver gas directly to a liquefaction facility. There are two BC Hydro lines nearby, a 138-KV line and a 500-KV line. Most of the pulp- and paper-related buildings on the 212-acre property have already been demolished, but a considerable amount of infrastructure has been left intact, some of which can be refurbished. Taimuri, P.Eng., in his role as

tion rests with the sponsor, a family-owned, Singapore-based com- pany called Royal Golden Eagle. Sukanto Tanoto, the Indonesian- born Founder and Chairman of RGE, has an estimated net worth of $2.2 billion and was ranked 840 on Forbes ’ 2014 list of world billionaires. Tanoto’s business interests include pulp and paper, palm oil production, power generation and oil and gas and his companies employ some 50,000 people worldwide. The Woodfibre project is an initiative of his daughter Imelda Tanoto, who has researched the LNG industry and developed the business plan. “She looked at sites for an LNG export terminal all over North America and decided that the Woodfibre project near Squamish

Project Engineer, will be responsible for building or re-furbishing every- thing except the LNG processing, storage and handling facilities. “Once we get our environmental assessment certificate and begin construction, we’ll be demolishing a lot of the exist- ing structures and replacing them with new infrastructure,” says Taimuri. “There are a number of roads, bridges and marine structures, such as a dock for ferries that need to be upgraded.” Taimuri is accustomed to working on large-scale projects. He spent several years as a railway bridge engineer, but was able to change direction with the advent of export-oriented LNG projects in the province. He worked for three years on site preparation and design for the Apache-Chevron Kitimat LNG project before joining the Woodfibre group. He is responsible for layout and design of about half a dozen buildings on the Woodfibre

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