Canada’s Ksi Lisims LNG project gains ground

Canada’s British Columbia (B.C.) Environmental Assessment Office (BCEAO) has issued a readiness decision to Ksi Lisims liquefied natural gas (LNG), a project proposed by the Nisga’a Nation, Rockies LNG and Western LNG.

With the readiness decision, the project is progressing into the next stage of its environmental assessment (EA). The decision is said to represent a significant milestone which marks the end of the EA early engagement phase and the start of the EA application phase.

Ksi Lisims LNG said is now working towards filing an EA application later this year. The application will provide a comprehensive analysis of the project’s potential impacts and benefits to ensure it meets B.C.’s standards of environmental responsibility. In the meantime, the project will ramp up consultation and engagement activities to inform the application’s development.

The latest milestone follows the 40-year export license issued by the government of Canada on 15 March, formalising the Canada Energy Regulator’s decision from December 2022.

Designed to be the largest net-zero LNG export facility in the world, Ksi Lisims LNG will produce 12 million tonnes of LNG per year. It is expected to generate approximately $50 billion in economic activity, create thousands of jobs within B.C., and provide substantial financial benefits to the Nisga’a Nation as well as to neighbouring Indigenous nations.

The project also aligns with the B.C. government’s newly announced energy action framework.

“We have worked very hard to ensure our project is capable of achieving net-zero performance”, said Eva Clayton, President of Nisga’a Lisims Government. “We put forward an ambitious action plan for producing net-zero LNG right here at home to help lower global emissions by displacing coal and oil overseas. I am pleased to see the B.C. government’s new LNG framework recognizing what we have long known: that economic reconciliation and net-zero LNG development go hand in hand.”

The development comes shortly after Canada’s Indigenous majority-owned LNG facility, Cedar LNG, received its environmental assessment certificate (EAC) from British Columbia (B.C.) Environmental Office.