India company proposes second LNG project

By Helen Murphy

GUYSBOROUGH – An India company is exploring the possibility of building another multibillion dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Municipality of the District of Guysborough, this one in the Melford area. Last year Pieridae Energy of Calgary announced its plans for a $5 billion LNG plant and terminal at Goldboro; that project is now progressing through the environmental approval process.

India's H-Energy signed an option with the province to develop 240 hectares of land in the Melford Industrial Land Reserve, near where Maher Melford Terminals plans to build a world-class container terminal. The option gives H-Energy the right to buy the property if their LNG project proves feasible.

H-Energy director Darshan Hiranandani shared the news at a business gathering in Calgary last week. He said it would take up to three years to begin construction.

Is there room for two LNG projects in Guysborough County? The short answer, according to Guysborough Warden Lloyd Hines, is yes.

The two locations are on separate sides of the municipality, he notes. Pieridae’s Goldboro site is near the termination point for Maritimes and Northeast Pipelines. And that area has already gone through the environmental approval process for a similar project proposed by Keltic Petrochemicals.

The second site eyed by H-Energy is on the eastern side of the county at Melford. The province owns that land and has negotiated the option agreement with H-Energy. Hines says it’s also significant that there’s an existing right-of-way for a pipeline from Goldboro to Point Tupper, travelling near the potential H-Energy site.

In terms of markets, each of these proposed projects eyes different LNG customers. H-Energy is targeting the Mumbai area of India and Pieridae Energy is looking at Northern Europe and the British Isles.

“It seems like there is demand,” said Hines. “India is a growing economy with more than one billion people.”

The price of LNG is low in North America compared to other global markets, and countries including Japan and Germany are looking to gas as they move away from their nuclear programs. With an apparent abundance of North American gas and growing U.S. interest in exporting, there are opportunities for projects like those proposed for Guysborough County to secure long-term contracts at an attractive rate for foreign markets.