The New Brunswick government on Friday granted conditional approval for a 500-megawatt natural gas plant that officials say is crucial to avoid rolling electricity blackouts within the next two years.
The green light comes after the province completed an environmental impact assessment on the project. The government said U.S.-based ProEnergy would need to meet a series of 45 conditions before and after building the facility.
The province’s public utility, NB Power, has a 25-year contract with ProEnergy to set up 10 refurbished jet turbines in a rural area of Tantramar, N.B. It would burn natural gas shipped in from the Maritimes and Northeast pipeline.
The proposed plant, known as the Renewables Integration Grid Security project, would have the ability to switch to diesel when gas isn’t available, according to NB Power.
The government has limited the plant to burning gas only 17 per cent of the time.
When not using gas, the turbines will operate in a so-called condensing mode that officials say will help stabilize the grid without generating additional power.
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Environment Minister Gilles LePage said the conditions ProEnergy must meet in building and running the plant addresses all the concerns his department heard from residents.
“It is now the responsibility of ProEnergy to determine how they will proceed and to ensure it is carried out in accordance with the approved requirements,” LePage told reporters in Fredericton.
The company will be required to regularly monitor nearby air and water quality, prepare an emergency management plan and track the impact on plants and animals, among other conditions.
In the case ProEnergy doesn’t meet the various conditions, LePage said his department could impose timelines for fixes or even shut the project down entirely.
NB Power has previously said the proposed plant will help serve as a backstop when weather-dependent renewable power sources are not available.
And Nova Scotia’s energy operator has signed a 10-year agreement to purchase 100 megawatts of power from the future plant.
The government approval and conditions announced Friday was the final major box on the checklist before ProEnergy could start getting the plant built.
In May, the province’s energy regulator, known as the Energy and Utilities Board, granted NB Power’s application for the project.
The facility is scheduled to be in operation by 2028. Provincial officials were unable to say when construction could begin.
ProEnergy did not immediately respond to questions on Friday.
LePage also noted the plant’s approval is unrelated to the government’s review of hydraulic fracturing it announced earlier this week.
What about the 6.5GW of offshore wind power that Nova Scotia is developing off Sable Island. Can’t that meet the demand??
So much for buy Canadian eh! We have ng turbine manufactures in Canada. Probably the ng will be bought from the US also because of our green net 0 plans. How dysfunctional is that?
NB,
If only we had a pipeline from Western Canada to Eastern Canada eh. Oh well, LNG tankers can always travel south through the Panama canal and then up. seems to be the norm anyways.
So just like the Enbridge expansion, all funding coming from private equity firms in the USA. The takeover is now in full swing.
“U.S.-based ProEnergy”
So much for the bottoms up movement.
The LNG terminal imports gas from Qatar, Trinidad, Tobago, Egypt, Norway, Peru, Equatorial Guinea, Spain, Australia, and others.
And why do we have the threat of rolling blackouts? Where are the proponents that said the grid could handle all the new heatpumps, EVs and newcomers to the province?
Just out of curiosity, where does the natural gas used sourced from. Do they have a natural gas industry and distribution system that can supply them? Or are they importing foreign LNG?
Might make an interesting story.