THUNDER BAY – Two major energy projects on the brink of moving forward are likely to have substantial regional economic impacts.
The East-West Tie transmission line and the Nipigon liquefied natural gas project, which are both nearing the start of construction in advance of operations beginning in the coming years, are expected to bring both short and long-term business opportunities to Northwestern Ontario.
“It’s really quite broad as to the breadth of services that will be required when you have that many people working on over 100 kilometres worth of area,” Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce president Charla Robinson said at Wednesday’s Prosperity Northwest business forum, where the two energy infrastructure projects were highlighted during a panel discussion.
“There are great opportunities for everything from office supplies to right on the ground out there as they’re building the lines.”
NextBridge’s East-West Tie, a nearly 450 kilometre transmission line connecting the Lakehead and Wawa transformer stations with a projected cost of $777 million, will start construction this summer with the line expected to be electrified in 2021.
With an expected average daily workforce of 230 people and a peak of 700, NextBridge project director Jennifer Tidmarsh said the preparations to begin construction are a massive undertaking.
“There’s the clearing of the line, all of the construction and steel but for the actual region itself we’re ensuring that we’re talking about having people on the ground to do the work,” Tidmarsh said.
“Every community that we’re in we’ll need support for all of the workers that are going to be there, so putting them up in accommodations, feeding them, catering services, all of the things you need to keep a camp running.”
Robinson said the added electrical capacity generated by the new line will create future opportunities for industry, particularly in the region's mining sector.
“There’s a short-term impact of the actual construction and then the maintenance but there’s also the bigger regional impact,” Robinson said.
“Mining continues to be a growing area. The Ring of Fire is still there. That maybe has stalled a little bit but there’s still lots of other opportunities.”
The Nipigon LNG project, which received a $27-million commitment from the province earlier this year, aims to bring liquefied natural gas to five Lake Superior north shore communities. A plant, connected to the existing TransCanada pipeline, would be built near Nipigon to cool natural gas to a liquid state to then be trucked to the communities where a depot would convert it back to a gas state for distribution through local networks.
Proponents of the project expect to formally submit their leave to construct an application to the Ontario Energy Board by the end of next month. Earlier this year, construction was estimated to begin in 2020.
Daryl Skworchinski, Marathon’s chief administrative officer and director of economic development, said it’s a transformative project.
“Energy costs are one of our largest detractors to living in our small towns. They’re an impediment to economic development. A project like this is really a once-in-a-lifetime for our communities,” Skworchinski said.
“It not only means tremendous savings for local homeowners but the ability to attract new investment to our communities, which has been long overdue, becomes real and becomes a real economic development opportunity for us.”
