Name and Location
Trans Mountain pipeline (TMPL) system expansion project, British Columbia (BC), Canada.
Client
Trans Mountain Pipeline, wholly owned by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners.
Project Description
The TMPL system started operations 60 years ago and transports a range of crude oil and petroleum products from western Canada to locations in central and south-western BC and Washington, and offshore.The TMPL system has an operating capacity of about 300 000 bbl/d using 23 active pumpstations and 40 petroleum storage tanks.
The proposed expansion, if approved, will create a twinned pipeline that will increase the nominal capacity of the system from 300 000 bbl/d to 890 000 bbl/d.
The proposed expansion will comprise:
• pipeline segments that complete a twinning, or a ‘looping’, of the pipeline in Alberta and BC, with about 987 km of new buried pipeline;
• new and modified facilities, including pumpstations and tanks; and
• three new berths at the Westridge marine terminal, in Burnaby, BC, each capable of handling Aframax class vessels.
Value
$5.4-billion.
Duration
The proposed start date for operations is 2017.
Latest Developments
There has been a delay in the hearing process announced by the National Energy Board (NEB) in its July 15, 2014, news release and revised hearing schedule.
The new hearing schedule will result in nearly a seven-month delay in receiving the NEB’s recommendation on the project to the government of Canada – now scheduled for January 25, 2016 – because of a 4 km deviation in the pipeline corridor in Burnaby.
Trans Mountain has decided to switch to tunnelling or drilling through Burnaby mountain, from an originally envisaged corridor in May 2014, largely in response to community feedback. The preferred route through Burnaby mountain will avoid the construction of the pipeline through the neighbourhood between the Burnaby terminal and the Westridge marine terminal, and if the tunnelling proves feasible, it will also make it possible to move the existing line between the terminals. The additional time will enable Trans Mountain to conduct the necessary engineering and environmental studies on the Burnaby mountain route, a section entailing 4 km of the proposed 980 km pipeline expansion.
Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.
On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.
Contact Details for Project Information
Trans Mountain Pipeline, tel +1 604 908 9734, fax +1 855 514 6427 or email media@transmountain.com.