FortisBC is looking to invest up to $400 million for an expansion of its liquefied natural gas facility in Tilbury.
The plant has been in service since 1971, FortisBC president and CEO John Walker told the audience at a Delta of Chamber of Commerce luncheon last Wednesday at the Delta Town & Country Inn.
"Most people probably don't even know it's there," he said.
The current storage tank at the Tilbury facility is about 600 million cubic feet. The expansion would see the addition of another tank with a capacity of one billion cubic feet.
Ground compaction and piling work is underway to get ready for the start of construction, he said.
Construction will hopefully start in early June with the project looking to be in service by late 2016, Walker said.
The plans have been discussed with Delta for more than a year, he noted.
Walker said he expects the project will create about 300 man-years of employment in various stages of construction and that the facility is expected to add about $4 million annually in taxes paid to various levels of government.
"Natural gas and particularly LNG is a huge opportunity for us here in British Columbia," he said, noting there is at least a 100-year supply with likely more than that available.
In a question-and-answer session, Walker was asked about fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, a controversial method of extracting natural
gas. He said every step of the process is highly regulated and that he's confident those rules are being well enforced.
