Woodfibre LNG seeks to expand workforce, requesting second floatel

Woodfibre LNG is gearing up to increase construction with a request to add a second floatel for employees sent to regulatory agencies, it announced on May 1.

Currently employees building the 2.1mn tonne per year (tpy) project are housed on the MV Isabelle X, which is moored at the project site about 10 kms from Squamish, British Columbia.

Non-local members of the construction workforce are required to be housed on a floatel as part of an amendment to the project’s environmental assessment certificate, which the British Columbian provincial government approved in November 2023, with the Squamish First Nations group Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw also approving the amendment one month later.

The proposal to add a second floatel will now pass through the same regulatory procedure. If approved, the second floatel would add about 900 new skilled trades workers to the project.

Workforce floatel company Bridgemans Services Group, which procured and retrofit the first floatel, has been selected to prepare the second floatel.

LNG projects in Canada must pass some of the most stringent environmental criteria in the world. Vancouver-based Bridgemans has confirmed that it will align with Woodfibre’s Net Zero mandate while procuring and retrofitting the second floatel.

The announcement marks a key step forward for the project, which has yet to announce a final investment decision (FID).

The project is being constructed on the site of a former pulp mill and is only accessible by water. McDermott International has been selected as the contractor for engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction. Canadian firm Ledcor Bird will serve as a construction sub-contractor.

Early construction began in autumn 2023 and is expected to be completed in 2027.

Upon completion, the plant will be the world’s first net zero LNG export terminal utilizing electric compressors to chill and condense gas to create the super-cooled gas. 

Woodfibre LNG will also utilise emission reduction technologies to keep the carbon intensity of the LNG well below British Columbia’s regulatory benchmark and has secured nature-based carbon offsets to negate remaining greenhouse gas emissions and reach net zero operations.

The Woodfibre LNG partnership is a joint venture with Pacific Energy Corporation holding a 70% stake and Enbridge holding the remaining 30% interest.