Under a groundbreaking agreement, FortisBC Energy Inc will export Canadian LNG produced by its small-scale LNG terminal in British Columbia in standard-sized shipping containers to China starting in 2021
The two-year agreement with Hong Kong-registered Top Speed Energy Oversea Corp Limited will see 53,000 tonnes of LNG a year or about 60 ISO containers shipped weekly from Tilbury LNG, Delta, British Columbia starting in Q3 2021 to China.
“This is the first agreement of its kind that will see Canadian LNG shipped regularly to China”, said FortisBC vice-president of market development and external relations Douglas Stout.
Mr Stout told LNG World Shipping that shipments were first sent by ISO container from the Port of Vancouver to China in 2017 to test the viability of the service.
“With the new service”, said Mr Stout, “breakbulk facilities in China will move the containers by trucks for distribution in the country, providing them with flexibility to meet the needs of industrial and public utility customers” that are not connected to natural gas pipeline distribution.
“Canada is one of the leading natural gas producers in the world and our company is pleased to work with FortisBC to move their LNG to China’s fast-growing market,” said Top Speed Energy chief executive Chen Jianrong. “The market for Canadian LNG will increase as China seeks to reduce air pollution and carbon emissions by switching to lower-carbon energy”.
Following a US$400M expansion, FortisBC’s small-scale liquefaction facility Tilbury LNG can produce 250,000 tonnes per year of LNG with storage capacity of 46,000 m3. Additionally, FortisBC has applied for permits to construct the Tilbury Pacific Marine Jetty to provide LNG bunkering capabilities for ships and vessels at the Port of Vancouver. FortisBC already supplies 8.3M litres of LNG as fuel for road trucks and 44M litres of LNG for LNG-powered BC Ferries and Seaspan Ferry vessels, which are bunkered by tanker truck.
The deal between FortisBC and Top Speed Energy is modest in scale by comparison with the US$40Bn LNG Canada LNG export project in Kitimat, British Columbia which would initially have a nameplate capacity of 14 mta of LNG when it is commissioned in 2023 or 2024. Shell holds a 40% stake in the project, Petronas, 25%, PetroChina, 15%, Mitsubishi Corp, 15% and Kogas 5%.
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