Vaughn Palmer: Will B.C. LNG be as clean as the NDP boasted? Texas plant claims it's the 'cleanest'
Credit to Author: Stephen Snelgrove| Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2019 01:22:59 +0000
VICTORIA — From Texas comes news of some competition for B.C. on the claim of producing the “cleanest natural gas” in the world.
“Freeport LNG today announced the start of commercial operations for its first liquefaction train,” said the press release last week out of Houston, 90 kilometres north of the Freeport LNG terminal site on the Gulf of Mexico.
A second production train is scheduled to begin commercial operations early in the new year, the third is slated to be operating by May.
Together, the three trains will produce more than 15 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year, putting Freeport in the same league as the LNG Canada project under construction at Kitimat in B.C.
The two projects differ significantly in one respect, as underscored in the Freeport press release.
“Freeport LNG is implementing the largest fully electric-motor-drive natural-gas-liquefaction plant in the world, reducing emissions at the facility by over 90 per cent relative to other plants which use combustion turbines.”
Those other plants include LNG Canada. It will use natural-gas-fired turbines to generate the power necessary to reduce the product to -162 C where it liquefies for shipping overseas.
“B.C.’s new LNG framework to deliver record investment, world’s cleanest LNG facility,” was the headline on the press release from Premier John Horgan’s office when the project was green-lighted in 2018. “LNG Canada has committed to making its Kitimat facility the world’s cleanest in terms of greenhouse gas emissions intensity.”
The “world’s cleanest” claim was one that the New Democrats cited to try to placate their Green partners in power sharing over the decision to proceed with LNG development.
Green Leader Andrew Weaver was not persuaded. He opposes LNG development on any basis. But he did cite Freeport LNG as evidence that a cleaner kind of LNG terminal was on the way.
The difference is not just one of boasting rights. The New Democrats have tied one of the incentives for LNG development to B.C.-based producers being able to meet world-leading standards for emissions.
“The provincial government recognizes that energy-intensive trade-exposed industries, including the natural gas sector, face unfair competition when competing globally with jurisdictions that do not impose a price on carbon,” as the release put it, back in 2018.
“The government intends that LNG projects will be eligible to participate in the new clean growth incentive program. A benchmark for world-leading clean LNG production will be established as part of this program.”
With a new benchmark now being set by the Texans with their all-electric-drive train, will B.C. still be able to claim the “world’s cleanest” title? More importantly, will LNG Canada be able to claim its incentives?
I put those questions to the B.C. ministry of energy, mines and petroleum resources.
In response, the ministry disputed the suggestion that the Freeport facility will surpass LNG Canada in terms of cleanliness when the bigger picture is taken into account.
“In B.C. our focus is on reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the full value chain,” the ministry argued, quoting the overall goal of the government’s CleanBC plan for reducing emissions.
“We’re focused on working with industry and the federal government to reduce methane emissions linked to the upstream extraction, production and liquefaction of natural gas,” the statement went on.
“As well, electrification of upstream oil and gas production, another aspect of our CleanBC plan, will allow for extraction powered by B.C.’s 97.8 per cent clean electricity.”
The point being that B.C.’s electricity, generated by hydroelectric dams, is relatively emissions-free when compared to coal- and even natural-gas fired generation.
On that point of comparison Freeport doesn’t come off so well, according to the Energy Ministry. Granted, its terminal will run on electricity instead of natural gas combustion. But that electricity itself is ultimately more reliant on fossil fuel power.
“While the Freeport LNG project is connected to the Texas electrical grid, that grid is more than 17 times more carbon intensive than B.C.’s grid, largely due to a reliance on fossil fuel power,” according to the Energy Ministry, quoting comparative figures for carbon emissions produced per kilowatt hour of power generated in the respective jurisdictions.
As well, the ministry claims that “LNG Canada is in the process of building the lowest greenhouse gas-emitting facility of its kind by using some of the latest, most efficient technology available.”
Note: “Of its kind.” Which is to say, LNG Canada comes out ahead when compared to other terminals that consume natural gas to make the liquefied natural gas.
The NDP’s CleanBC Industrial Incentive Program is likewise tailored to preclude a head-to-head comparison between LNG Canada and Freeport LNG alone.
Rather the benchmark is “based on the top five cleanest facilities in operation around the world. … Benchmarks will be reviewed and updated every five years to ensure they continue to incentivize emissions reductions and keep pace with global technology development.”
Not that the Texans would care about any of this. Their terminal is already operating, joining several others on the U.S. Gulf Coast that are already selling LNG to the Asian markets that B.C. hopes to tap, one of these days.
LNG Canada, presuming construction remains on track, won’t be running until 2025. By then, the markets, the incentives, the comparisons and even the government could change.