McDermott International has been given the go-ahead by Singapore's Pacific Energy to start work on the innovative 2.1 million tonnes per annum Woodfibre LNG in British Columbia (BC), Canada.
Due on stream in 2027 and powered with renewable hydroelectricity, Woodfibre LNG is destined to be the lowest-emission LNG export facility in the world.
McDermott, the project's prime contractor, has received a "notice to proceed," which is effectively an instruction to begin the work required to move the project toward major construction activities in 2023.
LNG from this project will be shipped to Asia where it will replace coal-fired electricity.
According to the project proponent, LNG produced at the Woodfibre facility will cut emissions by 3.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, which equates to about 5% of the Canadian province's annual emissions.
Gas for the LNG plant will be sourced from British Columbia's prolific Montney play.
The project is approved and regulated by the Canadian and BC governments and by the Squamish Nation, one of the province's indigenous groups.
Woodfibre LNG is said to be the first industrial project in Canada to recognise an indigenous people as a full project regulator - in the absence of a treaty.
The Woodfibre LNG project will be built some seven kilometres from Squamish, a town north of Vancouver, at a former pulp mill site.
