GOLDBORO: The developer for the proposed $10 billion Goldboro Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility has pulled the plug on the current project.
“We have not been able to meet all of the key conditions necessary to make a final investment decision,” Pieridae Energy Ltd. CEO Alfred Sorensen said in a media release. “It became apparent that cost pressures and time constraints due to COVID-19 have made building the current version of the LNG project impractical.”
While Pieridae has made tremendous progress in advancing the Goldboro LNG project, the company’s CEO suggested as of June 30, they had fulfilled only four of 12 requirements in the contract with Uniper SE.
Pieridae delayed their final investment decision (FID) last year as the COVID-19 pandemic rattled the globe.
The missing requirements included securing gas supplies, pipeline service contracts and project finance, terminal parts orders, and an engineering, procurement and construction contract, along with their FID.
“We will now assess options and analyze strategic alternatives,” Sorensen told The Reporter. “That could make an LNG project more compatible with the current environment.”
The shelved version of the project that was initially announced in 2012, would have seen gas being imported to Goldboro, where it would be processed on-site before being exported to Germany.
Following consultation with their board of directors, Pieridae announced an evaluation of “strategic alternatives,” and has made the decision to move Goldboro LNG in a new direction.
“The project’s fundamentals remain strong: robust LNG demand from Europe and high global LNG prices, Indigenous participation, a net-zero emissions pathway forward, and support from jurisdictions across Canada,” Sorensen said in the release. “This speaks to our ongoing efforts to find a partner to take advantage of these opportunities.”
One alternate idea the company may be looking at for the site that’s located near the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, which transports natural gas between Nova Scotia, the rest of Atlantic Canada and the northeastern United States, is a similar, but scaled back project.
Sorensen was hesitant to provide any information on what those alternate ideas might be, but indicated he hopes to come to a decision on how to proceed with whatever the project at the site could be, by late fall.
While Pieridae still has hope an LNG facility can be compatible in the current environment, and a new direction can be obtained in Goldboro, the phone number for their Halifax office is no longer in service.