A day following the approval of a pipeline project in the Grande Prairie area, both the Government of Alberta and TC Energy Corporation are chiming in on NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd.’s 2021 System Expansion Project.
“Despite months of delay, we are pleased the federal government has approved this key infrastructure project, which will create significant economic benefits and good jobs for Albertans at a time they are needed the most,” says Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage.
“We will review the details of the decision and work with TC Energy, the owner of the NGTL system, to ensure the project’s success.”
Savage adds the project is of vital importance for not only the Grande Prairie region, but all of Alberta.
“The NGTL expansion will provide increased capacity that is critically important to market access for the Canadian natural gas industry, which has suffered from bottlenecks and capacity constraints to key markets in Eastern Canada and the United States.”
TC Energy Corporation says now that the approval portion of the project has been completed, it’s expected progress on construction will begin immediately following regulatory requirements. Compressor station fieldwork is expected to begin in December 2020 and pipeline construction activities are expected to start in January 2021.
“We estimate this project will create up to 5,500 well-paying construction jobs for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous workers and will bring a much-needed economic boost to communities across Canada, especially in Alberta,” says President of Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines Tracy Robinson.
The extended pipeline would start near Grande Prairie and end just north of Calgary, with construction costs expected to come in around $2.3 billion.