A look back at Woodfibre LNG’s 2023

Looking at the Woodfibre LNG site as 2023 draws to a close, it’s clear how much work was done and how much has changed since the beginning of the year. Other than the administration building, all the old buildings and infrastructure are gone. Piles of cement have been crushed to be reused and stacks of rebar and demolished materials have been removed to be recycled off site. After more than a year of work, the Woodfibre LNG team completed the pre-construction stage of the project in 2023, remediating the site and preparing for construction. In September, the site was handed over to prime contractor McDermott International and the start of mobilization for construction began. Construction equipment has mobilized to site, early works are well underway, and the stage is being set for construction to ramp up in 2024.

The physical transformation of the project site was one of the important milestones reached in 2023, but there were more. While less visible, several other milestones were reached in 2023 that were also important to advancing the Woodfibre LNG project.

Roadmap to Net Zero

Early in the year, Woodfibre LNG released the Roadmap to Net Zero, a comprehensive, third-party validated plan to make the Woodfibre LNG Project the first net zero liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in the world. Through project design choices that aligned with the Indigenous led environmental assessment process conducted by the Squamish Nation, Woodfibre LNG is designed to be the lowest carbon intensive LNG export facility in the world at a carbon intensity of just 0.04 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per tonne of LNG (tCO2e/tLNG), nine times lower than the global average of 0.36 tCO2e/tLNG. By procuring nature-based offsets for hard to abate emissions, Woodfibre LNG can reach net zero – a global first for the LNG sector. Work will continue through 2024 and beyond to pursue further emissions reduction technologies to drive Woodfibre LNG’s emissions continually lower.

The Roadmap to Net Zero commits Woodfibre LNG to being net zero from the first day of operations and to offsetting the emissions of construction – 27 years in ahead of Government of Canada regulations. This is a firm commitment to the environmental sustainability of the project through construction and its operation.

LNG2023

In July, the global energy community arrived in Vancouver for LNG2023, the world’s largest LNG exhibition. Woodfibre LNG stood side by side with multinational energy giants, speaking to the advantages of the project, including its status as the world’s first net zero LNG facility. Visitors to the booth took virtual reality walkthroughs of the future facility and met and spoke with company staff and members of the Squamish Nation who joined the booth presence to demonstrate traditional woodcarving and weaving to the delegates. It was an honour to have members of the Nation present as they are an instrumental part of the Woodfibre LNG Project, both as neighbours and project regulators.

Annual production sold out

In September, Woodfibre LNG signed a third Sales Purchase Agreement with bp Gas Marketing Limited that increased the total firm LNG offtake of 1.95 million tonnes per annum and the remainder of the facility’s production on a flexible basis. This agreement completed the commitment of all Woodfibre LNG’s production for the first 15 years of operation, well before the construction phase even started. The interest in Woodfibre LNG and the widespread interest in acquiring its production volumes demonstrates the global demand for lower-carbon LNG today and well into the future.

The Floatel

In November, an important regulatory stage gate was passed as the Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) approved the amendment to the Project’s environmental assessment certificate to allow for the use of a temporary floating worker accommodation, also known as the floatel. The use of a floatel instead of a conventional land-based work camp for the Project’s construction workers ensures the lowest possible socioeconomic, traffic and environmental impacts on the community. The floatel amendment also helped set a new standard in addressing the safety of women and girls in relation to large industrial projects as, for the first time, a gender and cultural safety management plan is required – an element that the EAO noted will become “standard practice and an important consideration for all future projects with large work camps.”

Cultural and Gender Safety Training

In alignment with Woodfibre LNG’s commitments to gender and cultural safety and new regulatory requirements of the amended Environmental Assessment Certificate and Squamish Nation Environmental Assessment Agreement, more than 200 members of the Woodfibre LNG, contractor and subcontractor workforce took their onboarding training during 2023 which included in-person cultural awareness and gender safety training delivered by Squamish Nation trainers in addition to site orientation, safety and other required training. This training is mandatory for all workers – whether employed by the company, contractor, subcontractors or suppliers – prior to starting work on the Project.  Many of those receiving cultural awareness and gender safety training commented that this is the first time in their careers that they have had the opportunity to learn so much about Indigenous culture and the safety of Indigenous and non-Indigenous women on and around major projects.

Woodfibre LNG in the community

2023 was also a great year supporting Woodfibre LNG’s neighbours in Squamish. Dozens of non-profit organizations received more than $281,000 through the company’s Community Partnership Program. The Community Partnership Program provides up to $5,000 for local organizations that make important contributions to the local community through their programs and events in sports, recreation, health and wellness, arts and culture, and local search and rescue and marine safety organizations.

While 2023 may be coming to a close, the Woodfibre LNG Project is beginning an exciting new chapter in its development. 2024 will bring new milestones as construction ramps up, including the arrival of our floating workforce accommodation (the floatel) and the arrival of the first specialized LNG module on site.