After having suffered refusals from the governments of Quebec and Canada, GNL Quebec hopes to return to the charge, after having signed an agreement for the sale of natural gas in Ukraine which would begin in 2027. The company will however have to submit a new plant project natural gas liquefaction and export terminal to hope to relaunch its defunct industrial project.
According to what Symbio Infrastructure (owner of GNL Québec and the Gazoduq project) announced in a press release on Friday, an agreement to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) was signed on June 5 with “Naftogaz of Ukraine”, a company of Ukrainian state. Already last March, the company told the To have to that the invasion of Ukraine by Russia was likely to rekindle the flame of GNL Québec.
The two companies believe that liquefied natural gas in Quebec, as part of a new version of the Énergie Saguenay project, could be transported by ship to Europe within five years. The agreement also mentions the possibility of exporting liquid hydrogen.
“Carbon Neutral”
In the press release published on Friday, the chairman of the board of directors of GNL Québec, Jim Illich, reaffirmed that his company’s project would be “carbon neutral” and that the use of natural gas would make it possible to replace, in Europe, energy sources more polluting, such as coal.
This agreement demonstrates that the Alberta natural gas export project “is more necessary than ever,” added GNL Québec spokesperson Louis-Martin Leclerc by email.
“We are also receiving many other serious expressions of interest in our low-carbon energy. The current situation in Europe has exacerbated an already very present need for energy diversification on the continent towards reliable and low-carbon energy sources as proposed by GNL Québec,” he argued.
According to the company, “the carbon neutral Énergie Saguenay project continues to be ideally positioned to help our transatlantic allies find a solution to their geopolitical and climate issues, while presenting the best Canada has to offer”.
In the office of the Minister of the Environment of Quebec, Benoit Charette, we specify that we have no information on “a possible new project”, while recalling the rejection of the first project in July 2021.
Despite everything, the promoters of the gas pipeline, the liquefaction plant and the maritime terminal could present a new version of their project. However, it would again be subject to the entire environmental procedure, including public consultations.
“In such a context, we are therefore talking about a process of several years, which makes it difficult to see how such a project could constitute a solution to the current supply problems in Ukraine or even in Europe”, indicated the firm. of Minister Charette.
As for the 780-kilometre gas pipeline that would supply a possible liquefaction plant, its approval rests solely with the federal government, since it would be built on the territory of two provinces, namely Ontario and Quebec.
Greenpeace on Friday denounced the announcement of the promoters of the gas project. “This announcement by GNL Québec is simply ridiculous considering that the company has no authorization and no permit to go ahead with this project. It is neither more nor less show of smoke. GNL Québec is showing boundless arrogance and is disrespectful towards the federal and provincial governments who have clearly rejected this project following rigorous and science-based environmental assessment processes”, underlined its spokesperson. floor, Patrick Bonin.
Climate and belugas
The Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (AEIC) rejected the assertions made by the promoters of GNL Québec. In the final version of its report, the AEIC concludes that the project would harm Canada’s climate efforts, and in particular the achievement of “carbon neutrality” by 2050. In fact, the proponent presented no scenario ” credible” allowing to affirm that the exported gas would be used to replace more polluting fossil resources, such as coal.
The AEIC report also dismisses GNL Québec’s argument that natural gas is a partner in the “energy transition”. The document rather recalls that the International Energy Agency published an analysis in 2021 which concluded that countries must “renounce” allowing the development of “new oil and gas sites” in order to meet the objectives of the Agreement. Paris on the climate.
The passage of 320 LNG carriers each year on the Saguenay would also have represented a potential major risk for endangered marine mammals, including the St. Lawrence beluga, according to the AEIC. It must be said that the project would “double” maritime traffic on the Saguenay, and “within a protected area”, namely the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park. It would therefore have contributed “to the degradation of the underwater acoustic environment” of this essential habitat for the species.
Lobbying
Despite the refusals of the federal government and the government of Quebec, GNL Quebec has maintained its lobbying mandates in recent months. GNL Québec thus still has an active mandate in the Québec registry. His registration was renewed on February 14, 2022. In addition to Tony Le Verger, there is the chairman of the board of directors of GNL Québec, Jim Illich, registered as a lobbyist. Their mandate is valid until March 1, 2023.
In the register of Quebec companies, GNL Quebec still has an active registration and “no intention of liquidation or dissolution has been declared”, according to what can be read in the “information statement” of the company.
According to the information available in the Federal Registry of Lobbyists, the president of GNL Québec, Tony Le Verger, registered communications in February, March and April 2022, i.e. after the official rejection of the project by the government of Justin Trudeau, following federal environmental assessment.
Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates Pierre Poilievre and Jean Charest have promised to revive GNL Quebec. The leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, Éric Duhaime, pleaded in the same direction.