BC Conservative Party Leader John Rustad during an announcement in Squamish, B.C., on Oct. 1. Rustad has said that if his party wins the Oct. 19 election he intends to discard the province’s climate-action policies.Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press
A pledge by the BC Conservatives to scrap the provincial NDP government’s goals to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions would strengthen plans for exports of liquefied natural gas while undermining B.C.’s climate targets, according to a green-energy think tank.
A review of the provincial election campaign by Clean Energy Canada shows that the BC Conservatives led by John Rustad would introduce policies to spur LNG development that are much more aggressive than the existing energy framework instituted by the BC NDP, led by David Eby.
But expanding the province’s fledgling LNG sector would be damaging to the environment, said Mark Zacharias, executive director at Clean Energy Canada, a think tank at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C.
Mr. Rustad said that if his party wins the Oct. 19 election he intends to discard the province’s climate-action policies, which are currently guided by a government plan called CleanBC that carries a commitment to decrease emissions.
However, even if his upstart party manages to topple the NDP, decisions on whether to build new LNG projects in B.C. will largely hinge on global energy factors and economic considerations, with provincial policies having much less influence on LNG proponents, Mr. Zacharias said.
LNG Canada, which will become the country’s first LNG export terminal when it opens by mid-2025 in Kitimat in northwestern B.C., is considering a Phase 2 expansion.
Phase 1 will use turbines powered by natural gas, but increased supplies of hydroelectricity would be required if Phase 2 is to eventually switch to electric motors for driving the compressors needed to liquefy natural gas.
The contentious Coastal GasLink pipeline across Northern B.C. will supply natural gas to LNG Canada and another project, Cedar LNG, also situated in Kitimat on the traditional territory of the Haisla Nation.
Cedar is only the third LNG export project under construction in Canada, after LNG Canada and Woodfibre LNG, located near Squamish, B.C.
Mr. Eby, who was sworn in as B.C. Premier in November, 2022, has expressed his support for Cedar’s plans to use lower-emitting hydroelectricity for powering LNG facilities.
Cedar will rely on upgrades to an existing transmission line and won’t be dependent on the proposed North Coast project by BC Hydro for twinning that line to expand capacity.
The Haisla own 50.1 per cent of Cedar, while Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corp. holds 49.9 per cent.
Ksi Lisims LNG, an early-stage proposal backed by the Nisga’a Nation in northwestern B.C., plans to use two floating platforms to produce LNG, based on the expectation of new supplies of hydroelectricity.
But the North Coast transmission project could get shelved if the BC Conservatives win office.
If a future BC Conservative government were to rescind CleanBC and its policies, that would clear the way for LNG Canada’s Phase 2 and Ksi Lisims to focus on natural gas-driven technology for liquefaction, Mr. Zacharias said.
The BC Green Party, led by Sonia Furstenau, is hoping to hold the balance of power in what is widely anticipated to be a tight race between the BC NDP and BC Conservatives. The BC Greens say the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline project, which is designed to feed natural gas from northeastern B.C. to Ksi Lisims, should be cancelled.
Besides Ksi Lisims, other early-stage proposals include FortisBC’s expansion plans at its domestic Tilbury LNG site in Delta; and Summit Lake PG LNG near Prince George.
Energy for a Secure Future, a coalition backed by Canada’s natural gas industry, maintains that LNG demand from Asian countries will be strong in the years ahead, and there are still opportunities for B.C. LNG.
“Work needs to be done by the B.C. government with the players involved at all the stages, in the pipeline routes and First Nations,” said Shannon Joseph, chair of Energy for a Secure Future.
At an LNG conference on Sunday in Japan, organizers emphasized what they view as the benefits of the fuel. “LNG can play a constructive role in a transitioning energy system,” according to the conference’s summary statement.
But the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a U.S.-based research group, envisages a looming supply glut of LNG in the world.
It’s a myth that Japan needs more LNG in the years ahead for its domestic energy security of supply, said Sam Reynolds, a research lead at IEEFA. He added that Japan already resells roughly one-third of its imported LNG.
Mr. Reynolds cautions that producing LNG in B.C. is more expensive compared with many other jurisdictions in the world. “LNG is already expensive and struggling to compete with other resources in the destination markets,” he said.