Canada Extends Gazoduq Planning Phase

Responding to a request from the province of Quebec, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) said on April 14 it had extended the prescribed 180-day time limit for the planning phase under the Impact Assessment Act (IAC) for the proposed Gazoduq natural gas pipeline in Ontario and Quebec.

The Gazoduq project is a 780-km pipeline intended to connect TC Energy’s gas transmission system in northern Ontario to the Energie Saquenay LNG export terminal in Quebec. It is the first major energy project in Canada to be considered under the federal government’s controversial Bill C-69, dubbed by many the No Pipelines Act.

Gazoduq filed its initial project description on October 22, 2019, triggering the initial 180-day planning phase mandated under the IAC. The initial planning phase was initially scheduled to end on April 18, but Quebec asked for the 90-day extension “to permit co-operation in light of the exceptional circumstances arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and its impacts to communities, businesses and stakeholders,” the IAAC said.

“Accordingly, the planning phase could be extended up to July 18, 2020,” it said, adding that the planning phase may be concluded earlier.

The C$9bn (US$6.4bn) Energie Saguenay LNG project, with a capacity of 11mn mt/yr, is in the midst of its own regulatory process, but is facing financial headwinds. Last month, Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway decided against investing C$4bn, leaving the project’s proponent, privately-held GNL Quebec, without a major source of financing.

GNL Quebec intends to make a final investment decision on the project in 2021, and to begin operations in 2025.