Prime Minister François Legault does not close the door to the pipeline and liquefied gas liquefaction (LNG) project that could see the light of day on the North Shore.
The project, led by the company of Norwegian origin Marinvest Energy Canada, provides for the construction of a floating terminal of LNG in Baie-Comeau. The structure would be fed by a new gas pipeline measuring a hundred meters, at the St. Lawrence River, in order to export Alberta natural gas to Europe. The duty reported the news on Friday, reporting information provided by several sources.
Prime Minister François Legault, who was in Sept-Îles on Friday for an aluminum announcement, confirmed that members of his team have already met the project promoters. “If it’s paying for Quebecers, we’re going to watch it. If it is not paying for Quebecers, we won’t look at it, “he said.
Marinvest Energy Canada approached Manicouagan MRC at the start of the year, according to the prefect Marcel Furlong. “When someone comes to see you to tell you that they want to invest millions of dollars in your home, you have no choice but to listen to them,” he said.
The exchanges between the MRC and the company summed up with “two calls of about 20 minutes”, according to Mr. Furlong.
“We are not specialists in the field, so we record what we can, but they told us that it was a great project to decarbonize certain industrial activities,” he explained.
“This is a project that is part of the economic changes that we are currently living with our southern neighbors,” said Karine Otis, President and Generaller of the Baie-Comeau.
Marinvest Energy’s procedures with the port of Baie-Comeau began about two months earlier, according to Mme Otis. The project has not yet started, but “if there is a project of this scale that is realized, we will work with this company to get an optimal development,” she added.
Marinvest Energy, founded in Norway in 2020, describes itself on its website as a “sustainable” LNG project development project.
Back of a controversial resource
Natural gas earns points within the political class in Canada, since the trade war has caused tectonic changes in global supply chains.
In February, the Legault government was interested in a new iteration of the GNL Quebec project proposed for the first time in 2015. The leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Hairy, promised to revive the project during his electoral campaign.
GNL Quebec provided for the construction of a 750 -kilometer gas pipeline from northern Ontario to Saguenay, a gas liquefaction plant and an export terminal. The project was abandoned in 2021 after the publication of a report from the Office of Public Harrants on the Environment (BAPE) concluding that the gas pipeline had too many risks to be advantageous.
The most recent investor report for the Paris Agreement, which analyzes the profitability of this investment, also concluded that Canada arrives too late today to hope to take advantage of the export of natural gas, due to too high costs.
The project could be “devastating” in the eyes of Greenpeace Canada, which prompted federal and provincial governments to reject any new LNG project, in a statement.
“In a world that turns to renewable energies, resuscitating fossil infrastructure projects is madness: these undead projects no longer have their place in our energy future and should never see the light of day,” said Louis Couillard, responsible for the air conditioning campaign at Greenpeace Canada.
Natural gas releases less carbon dioxide when burned, an argument frequently used to promote the development of this resource in Canada. However, it still generates a large amount of pollution. According to a study by the Cornell University revised by peers, the carbon footprint of natural gas becomes worse than that of coal when taking into account the whole of its life cycle.
Lobbying
The company has been working since the spring to convince political decision -makers. Marinvest Energy Canada recorded two advisory lobbyists of the national public relations firm at the Quebec lobbyist register last April.
Their mandate consists in making “steps and representations to government authorities in order to know the conditions applicable for the implementation of a structuring and advantageous energy project for the future of Quebec and Canada”, it can be read there. They work in particular with the Prime Minister’s office, the House of Commons, Natural Resources Canada and Transport Canada.
In the Federal, four lobbyists-advisers from the national public relations firm are associated with the company, according to the Lobbyists register of Canada. One of them communicated last June with the leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Hairyvre, and the conservative deputy Pierre Paul-Hus about “energy”, “environment”, and “natural resources”, according to the register.
With Hélène Baril, The pressand the Canadian press
