Woodfibre LNG is seeking to place a second floating workers' accommodation at its site in Squamish to accommodate 900 more tradespeople.
If approved, this would speed up the timeline of construction of the Liquefied Natural Gas export facility.
Currently, the repurposed cruise ship MV Isabelle X is moored at the site, located seven kilometres from downtown Squamish.
The Vancouver-based Bridgemans Services Group has committed to supplying the second floatel to be outfitted just like the company did with the first.
"Bridgemans is proud to undertake the retrofit, delivery and operation of a second floatel to the same high standards set by the MV Isabelle X,” said Brian Grange, president of Bridgemans, in a news release.
“As a Vancouver-based Canadian company, it's an honour to contribute to a project that strengthens Canada’s role in global energy. The MV Isabelle X showcases Canadian innovation and sets a new benchmark for workforce accommodation on the water.”
‘Global energy context changing’
In an interview with The Squamish Chief in Squamish on Thursday morning, Woodfibre LNG chief executive officer, Luke Schauerte, said that the change in the global climate is the impetus for accelerating construction.
"The global energy context is changing. We've really seen passion across Canada to diversify our export markets, and what we see is an opportunity to bring on a second floatel, 900 jobs now, and these are high-paying, highly skilled jobs. And have the opportunity to deal with the current economic uncertainty and ultimately get the project done quicker," he said.
"So in that opportunity to finish it earlier, we have the chance to actually be sure that we can connect to those energy diverse markets and get Canadian energy overseas quicker."
Asked for specifics on the timeline, Schauerte said the company is focused right now on completing the regulatory process and making submissions.
"We look forward to working with the Squamish Nation, the District of Squamish, the provincial and the federal regulators, to be sure that we have a fulsome submission and we have the opportunity to be heard and to present the opportunity to be reviewed," he said, but he added that the hope would be to have the floatel in place at the end of this year.
'Floatels require temporary land use approval'
The District of Squamish told The Squamish Chief that it expects as part of the approval process, Woodfibre LNG will submit an application for temporary land use approval from the municipality.
“Upon receipt of an application by the District, staff would then conduct a review and recommend a decision to council. Until an application is submitted, the District cannot comment on the associated process or timelines,” said Rachel Boguski, spokesperson for the District.
WLNG has indicated it is focused on applying and proceeding through a number of regulatory approvals they believe are required for a second floatel.
It is the District’s position that both floatels require temporary land use approval from the District, and staff are prepared for this process.
'Minimal impact'
There will be a total of between 1,200 and 1,400 workers on the site, housed on both ships, if the second floatel were to be approved.
The floatels accommodate about 650 workers, but with rotating shifts, this will not mean more workers are housed in the community. They would all be on the floatels.
Schauerte said that the year of the operation of the first floatel has shown there has been minimal impact on the community. He added that the tradespeople onboard have offered positive feedback about the accommodations and amenities, just steps from their worksite.
Non-local workers are currently brought to the floatel from Vancouver by boat.
The same system will be in place should the second floatel be installed.
"We actually believe that that process has worked well. It's minimized impacts, and we think that any sort of additional traffic is going to be incremental to what we're already doing," Schauerte said.
Asked about sourcing workers, given there is a shortage of trade workers locally and in Canada, Schauerte noted some other big industrial projects are wrapping up, thus the anticipation is that could supply the needed workers, such as Site C and LNG Canada, which recently saw its first LNG carrier arrive to its facility in Kitimat. (It is expected to have its first LNG export cargoes by the middle of this year.)
"I look at that as being an opportunity to pick up those really skilled, well-paying jobs and professionals—boiler makers, millwrights, iron workers, our environmental stewards, safety professionals. All those people who are looking for work and have that opportunity to come down and do work with us."
Once complete, the Woodfibre LNG facility will produce approximately 2.1 million tonnes of LNG per year during operations.
"There's definitely a desire across Canada to see Canadian LNG and Canadian energy exports be diversified," Schauerte said. "And you've seen that from the federal government, you've seen that from the provincial government. You've heard that from people across Canada. And so I think Woodfibre LNG is really well positioned right now to actually finish the project strong, finish the project as soon as possible and make those connections to actually get those LNG exports over to Asia. So when I look at the global energy context, I see that there's a passion for Canada to be connected to larger international markets."
•Please note, this story has been updated to include a District of Squamish comment.
