Clearing around an Enbridge buried natural gas pipeline in Hope, B.C. The company’s T-South system runs from Chetwynd in northeast B.C. to the Huntingdon-Sumas meter station at the Canada-U.S. border.COLE BURSTON/AFP/Getty Images
Enbridge Inc. ENB-T is embarking on a $4-billion expansion of its pipeline system for transporting natural gas in British Columbia after receiving approval from the federal government.
The Sunrise expansion project will increase capacity by 17 per cent at Enbridge’s T-South system, focusing on southern B.C. but also bolstering the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
“The multibillion-dollar Sunrise expansion program is a shovel-ready, critical natural gas infrastructure project that supports the advancement of Canada’s energy superpower ambitions,” Enbridge chief executive officer Greg Ebel said in a statement on Friday.
The improvements to pipeline and related infrastructure are designed to help an array of customers, including Woodfibre LNG, a project under construction near Squamish, B.C., that hopes to start exporting liquefied natural gas to Asia by late 2027.
Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. acquired a 30-per-cent stake in Woodfibre in 2022, while the remaining 70 per cent is held by Pacific Energy Corp. Ltd. The latter is part of privately owned Singapore-based RGE Pte. Ltd., which is controlled by Indonesian businessman Sukanto Tanoto.
Westcoast Energy Limited Partnership, an affiliate of Calgary-based Enbridge, operates the B.C. transmission system.
The T-South system runs from Chetwynd in northeast B.C. to the Huntingdon-Sumas meter station at the Canada-U.S. border.
“This project will enable us to heat more homes, businesses, hospitals and schools, while bolstering British Columbian industry, including for LNG, and creating thousands of jobs,” federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson said in a statement.
Earlier this year, a commission panel of the Canada Energy Regulator recommended approval of the expansion project.