TC Energy’s Coastal GasLink pipeline, which will supply natural gas to the Shell-led LNG Canada terminal, has achieved 90 percent overall completion.
The 670 kilometers long pipeline will have the capacity to transport 2.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (bcf/d) from Groundbirch, BC to Kitimat, in the first phase.
Coastal GasLink said in a construction update it still expects to complete the pipeline by the end of 2023.
Section 6, which stretches 63 kilometers from south of Burns Lake to south of Houston, achieved 100 percent pipe installation in June, marking the third of eight sections to complete pipe installation, following Sections 1 and 4 which achieved this milestone last year.
Coastal GasLink said it has completed mainline welding in Section 7, marking the final component of mainline welding across the project, while Section 5 has also completed all pipe installation with the exception of one remaining water crossing.
To date, 625 kilometers of pipe has been installed and nearly 97.5 percent of all pipe has been welded.
The price tag of the giant pipeline has increased substantially over the years and TC Energy now estimates costs for the first phase of its pipeline to reach C$14.5 billion.
As per the LNG Canada plant in Kitimat, the project built by JGC Fluor is more than 80 percent complete.
The first phase of the giant LNG Canada project includes building two liquefaction trains with a capacity of 14 mtpa.
LNG Canada expects to deliver its first cargo by the middle of this decade.
Besides operator Shell, other partners in LNG Canada are Malaysia’s Petronas, PetroChina, Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation, and South Korea’s Kogas.