Canada’s $30BN Gamble To Become An Energy Superpower

this is one of the biggest energy Mega projects in North America but you've probably never heard of it that's because it's a type of infrastructure that doesn't get as much attention as power plants or dams despite being equally hard to build and just as crucial to the world's power supply with the global energy crisis showing no signs of stopping gas prices stuck at record highs and shortages made worse by Russia's invasion of Ukraine ensuring there's enough of the stuff to go around has become a bit of a challenge but when this enormous new facility in Canada completes in a few years it could provide a much needed new source of fuel that'll reach far and wide as well as providing a huge economic boost the single largest private sector investment in the history of Canada but in an industry where competition between countries is fierce than ever and with Renewables on the rice is this Canada's chance to become the next energy superpower or has it missed the boats thank you okay so let's get right to it what exactly is this Mega project and why does it require digging up such a huge chunk of this stunning landscape well it's all taking place in the small town of kitty mats and the Consortium behind it goes by the name of LNG Canada LNG stands for liquefied natural gas and yes we know what you're thinking and yes you're right fossil fuels are bad and Canada is supposedly a world leader in renewable energy so why is it building something like this well Canada is one of the world's biggest producers of natural gas but unlike the US Qatar or Australia it doesn't have any way of exporting it overseas the gas industry of course sees a huge amount of gas underground in a in a place called the montney basiness sort of Northeastern British Columbia and they're thinking we need we need to get this stuff to Market this is we need to be able to make some money from this but the problem is that there's not a big population center nearby they need to get it somewhere else hence why Canada is now building its first LNG scheme set to cost more than 40 billion Canadian dollars in total a task that as these pitchers clearly show is more than a little bit complicated but hang on a moment let's take a step back before we go any further isn't natural gas a gas not a liquid yes it'll still be a gas when it comes into this new terminal via the coastal gas link a new 670 kilometer pipeline that runs all the way from the source up in Dawson Creek [Music] yes that is the name of the town where the gas comes from but if you want to send guests to another country or continent there's an ocean in the way and it's too far to Simply build another pipeline you'll need special tankers like these to make it safe for transports and so you can fit as much of it as possible on boards the gas has to be converted into a liquid then it's placed in these huge tanks and shipped over before it's turned back into a gas at the other rent it sounds simple when you summarize it like that but the actual process is far from straightforward and the same goes for the construction now you'll be pleased to know that we're not going to try and explain what every single component on this site does and how it's being built because that will clearly take some time so instead we're going to pick out a few highlights firstly what are those things that look like huge cages covered in pipes they're the process modules 35 meters tall and weighing over 4 500 tons this one was the first to be installed its job is to act as the entry point for gas coming in from the pipeline and to send it on to be treated and processed these giant structures were all manufactured in China and carried over on ships to get them from the port to the site they had to be placed on the back of large Transporters and carefully moved by road before being lowered onto specially built foundations it wasn't a one-off task either in total more than a dozen of these modules are going in next there's the absorber column it's used to remove carbon dioxide from the gas before it's liquefied weighing over 800 tons and measuring 54 meters long it's the largest single piece of equipment at the site requiring several hours and three cranes to install but the one thing you really can't help but notice when looking down from above is this the massive tank where the gas is stored before it's piped onto those ships 52 meters high and 92 meters in diameter the Colossal container is one of the biggest of its kind in the world with a domed roof that had to be left into place very slowly the lift was done using fans which gradually pressurized the tank and raised the roof over three hours once in position welders fixed into place and the air pressure in sights could return to normal with construction now over 70 complete the terminal is set to come online sometime in the middle of this decade and as for where all this gas is likely to go well Asia is the main target it's the next closest continent to Canada's West coasts many countries here are dependent on gas that has to be imported and others are still burning coal the worst of all fossil fuels yes natural gas is a fossil fuel too but it's not as bad as coal so technically it is a lower carbon form of energy but is it really going to get countries like China to stop using coal China is still importing large amounts of LNG but they're still building coal plants they don't necessarily use it for electricity it's often used for domestic consumption or it's used for powering industry so as far as getting off coal well that maybe one of the the possibilities that may happen or it could just be that China places like China will import LNG and still in their domestic coal because coals is cheaper so what about Europe which has had to scramble over the past year to fill the Gap in its gas supplies left behind by Russia and its war in Ukraine Europe's energy crisis one that could tilt not just the continent but the entire world into a possible recession according to Shell one of the five companies behind LNG Canada 2022 saw LNG Imports to Europe increased by 60 percent surely then one of the world's biggest gas producers suddenly becoming an exporter is good news for Europeans well first off they're in the opposite direction to Asia which would mean very long Journeys to reach them also despite needing more of it in the short term Europe is pushing hard to get off fossil fuels for goods as soon as possible and right there you have one of the potential problems with this whole project the timing when it finally gets up and running many nations are going to be looking at much cleaner alternatives to natural gas and the chances are that overall demand will be lower by then Canada will also be coming up against competitors that have already been doing LNG for years another issue is the costs which has grown significantly not on the LNG terminal but with that pipeline there's also the impacts on local communities the First Nations LNG Canada says it's working closely with them on the main sites but there have been disagreements further Inland Coastal Gaslight pipeline was originally estimated to cast about you know around six billion dollars the latest cost estimate is 14 billion in these are Canadian dollars and then at the same time First Nations the Aboriginal people of uh of the martini Basin I have been concerned about the impacts of drilling and Forestry on their their hunting and fishing uh rights the industry had to make an agreement with the government and the First Nations that limited the amount of drilling in the Basin and that could push up the cost of Supply as well all in all LNG Canada represents something of a gamble for the companies involved and to some extent the country it's undeniably impressive from a construction point of view and it's offering something that's clearly needed at the moment all over the world but as is often the case with these Mega projects whether it ends up being worth the costs both financially and environmentally remains to be seen this video was sponsored by bluebeam you can learn more about how their digital construction tools are helping amazing teams around the world at the link below there's also the chance to dive deeper on this and the other topics on our Channel over on the world's best construction podcasts available now wherever you get your podcasts and as always if you enjoyed this video and you want to get more from the definitive video channel for construction make sure you subscribe to the b1m

Channel: The B1M

Views: 1,704,327

Keywords: B1M, TheB1M, Construction, architecture, engineering, The B1M, Fred Mills, building, lng, lng canada, liquefied natural gas, natural gas, energy, canada, kitimat, shell, british columbia, qatar, australia, united states, energy crisis, europe, asia, bluebeam, china, coal, fossil fuels, renewable energy, megaprojects, north america, justin trudeau, first nations

Id: c4zUnACRrQU

Length: 9min 27sec (567 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 19 2023