When looking for alternatives to Russian gas, Canada is a popular choice. Environment Secretary Guilbeault said the East Coast has natural gas reserves for just one LNG plant that could supply liquefied natural gas to Europe. Expanding them accordingly for export is a project "over the years".
In the struggle for alternatives to Russian natural gas, Canadian Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has specified the options for exports of liquid gas to Germany, among other places. Canada's east coast has so much gas that it can currently only supply one LNG export facility, Guilbeault said.
Most of Canada's gas production is located in the western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Building new gas pipelines is not very realistic, explained the minister. The fastest way to export gas to Europe would be through a facility owned by the Spanish company Repsol in the eastern Canadian province of New Brunswick. Canada does not yet have an LNG plant suitable for export purposes, the only one under construction is on the west coast.
The Repsol plant for gas import could be expanded in the short term so that exports are also possible, Guilbeault said. This could strengthen the supply in the medium term. "So this is a project that could be implemented fairly quickly, but we're still talking about years." When asked, Repsol stated that the company would examine all possibilities to expand the business with the plant. This included supplements for gas liquefaction.
Guilbeault emphasized that the expansion would have to take into account Canadian laws on reducing greenhouse gases. Canada has pledged support to Europe. At the same time, the government also wants to achieve its net-zero emissions target by 2050. Approving new plants for the processing of fossil fuels would run counter to this.
In addition to Repsol, the Canadian company Pieridae Energy is also under discussion for LNG export. The group wants to build an LNG plant in Nova Scotia. The Canadian government says it has recently spoken to European allies, including Spain and Germany, about boosting exports from Canada's east coast. Guilbeault explained that representatives of Germany had emphasized in the relevant talks that the new LNG plant should be converted into a hydrogen plant well before 2050.
