TransCanada completes Northwest Mainline Loop-Boundary Lake pipeline expansion

The TransCanada Corporation completed a pipeline expansion begun in 2017 with the final section of the NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL) system entering service this week.

In all, the company invested $1.7 billion into the pipeline and, by extension, the Canadian natural gas infrastructure, adding low-cost natural gas from northwest Alberta and northeast British Columbia to the network. Thus far, the 2017 Expansion Program has increased system capacity by around 500 million cubic feet per day and generated $800 million in labor income. In the days to come, it’s expected to generate as much as $1.2 billion in Canadian gross domestic product, as well.

“We continue to focus on optimizing the competitiveness of the NGTL System and services and expanding our established transportation network to connect growing volumes of Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin natural gas to markets across North America,” Tracy Robinson, TransCanada’s senior vice-president and general manager of Canadian Gas Pipelines, said. “Projects like the 2017 NGTL Expansion program demonstrate our strong focus on future growth opportunities for producers and we are working with industry to address their needs for long-term, safe and reliable transportation service.”

The NGTL system consists of a 24,320 km — approximately 15,111 miles — pipeline network running through Western Canada. It is a key part of a TransCanada plan to reach 2.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2021. As is, the company holds a gas storage system with 653 billion cubic feet of capacity and operates around 6,100 megawatts of power generation in both the United States and Canada.