FortisBC Holdings Inc. applauds provincial approval of the Tilbury Marine Jetty Project

Mar 27, 2024

DELTA, B.C.—March 27, 2024: An Environmental Assessment Certificate has been issued to Tilbury Jetty Limited Partnership for the Tilbury Marine Jetty (TMJ) Project. FortisBC Holdings Inc. (FortisBC) welcomes the approval by the Province of British Columbia of the TMJ project and is awaiting a decision from the Government of Canada.

The TMJ project consists of building a jetty, or dock, on the south arm of the Fraser River adjacent to FortisBC’s existing Tilbury LNG facility. Once constructed, the TMJ will be the first facility on Canada’s west coast that will enable trans-oceanic vessels to fuel with liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Port of Vancouver.

LNG from Tilbury is among the cleanest in the world with a carbon intensity that is about 30 per cent lower than the global average because the facility is powered by hydroelectricity. Using LNG from Tilbury rather than conventional marine fuel reduces GHG emissions by up to 27 per cent, in the very difficult to decarbonize marine sector. Switching all ships that call at the Port of Vancouver from conventional marine fuel to LNG marine fuel would also remove 90 per cent of the particulate matter associated with marine shipping from the local airshed, according to a third-party study.

In 2022, FortisBC signed an agreement with the Musqueam Indian Band that includes options for Musqueam to acquire equity ownership in the projects at Tilbury, subject to regulatory approvals and certain conditions precedent.

Since 2014, the TMJ project team has conducted thorough and ongoing engagement and consultation with municipalities, the Metro Vancouver Regional District, federal and provincial agencies and Indigenous communities to learn about their concerns and what is important to them. Based on this feedback, the design enhancements reduce the potential impact on vegetation, fish, and fish habitat. The TMJ project team engaged with over 30 Indigenous communities through working sessions, individual meetings and two-way exchanges of information resulting in consent and support letters from 12 different nations.

Quotes:

We welcome the decision from the provincial government and are optimistic that federal approval will follow soon. Tilbury LNG is all around win-win from decarbonizing the marine sector, to improving air quality and sharing economic benefits with local and Indigenous businesses. We look forward to the day we can call our region the “port of call” for low carbon marine fuelling on the West Coast.

Roger Dall’Antonia, President and CEO of FortisBC

In approving the Tilbury Jetty, the Province of British Columbia has made a step towards enabling lower carbon marine fuels visiting the Port of Vancouver and opening our energy market. Musqueam has stewarded our homelands around the Fraser River estuary for thousands of years and look forward to further building our partnerships with FortisBC once this project is fully approved.

yəχʷyaχʷələq, Chief Wayne Sparrow, Musqueam Indian Band

Seaspan is pleased to see the Tilbury Marine Jetty Project receive its provincial approval, bringing this important project one step closer to construction and operation. Seaspan is poised to help support the LNG marine fuelling business at this first-of-its-kind facility in Canada that will help develop the LNG market and grow the Port of Vancouver as a hub for clean fuelling. This project is in alignment with Seaspan’s values and priorities and will result in significant economic and environmental benefits for the region and Indigenous communities.

Ian McIver, President, Seaspan Energy

At the port authority, we are working on a variety of initiatives to advance the development of low and zero emission marine fuels and technologies to achieve our goal of phasing out all port-related emissions at the Port of Vancouver by 2050. Some shipping lines are adopting LNG as a marine fuel as a step toward reducing air pollutants and greenhouse gases, as currently it is the only commercially available and scalable alternative to oil-based marine fuels. The approval of the Tilbury Marine Jetty will support the shipping industry's transition to cleaner and lower carbon fuels and provide ships calling at the Port of Vancouver the opportunity to significantly reduce their air pollutants.

Duncan Wilson, Vice President, Environment and External Affairs, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority

 

Media contact