Photo: FortisBC

FortisBC has come up with a made in B.C. solution to the natural gas shortage caused by an explosion to the Enbridge pipeline back on October 9, 2018.

The explosion could be seen from space and caused serious disruption of service for the 91-centimetre natural gas pipeline, which supplies natural gas to about a million customers in the province.

The pipeline is currently running at 85 per cent capacity and British Columbians had been asked to conserve and reduce their natural gas consumption as a result of the disruption.

For the last two weeks, FortisBC has been driving compressed natural gas from the Okanagan to the coast. FortisBC communications advisor Tanya Laing Gahr says, "FortisBC is using Certarus, a company that specializes in transporting compressed natural gas by tanker, and this is the first time FortisBC has transported CNG from the Okanagan to the mainland."

FortisBC says the “virtual pipeline” will be in operation from the beginning of December to the early part of February. "For the next two months, 16 to 20 trucks per day, supplied by Certarus Ltd., will transport CNG from near Princeton to a compressor station in Aldergrove, which will augment the supply of available natural gas for customers in the Lower Mainland," says Laing Gahr.

The virtual pipeline allows natural gas to avoid being fed into the pressure-constrained Enbridge transmission line and instead be pushed directly into FortisBC’s distribution system. "Basically, we’re bypassing the limits that exist on the Enbridge line. While this project is dealing with relatively small amount of gas, it will provide a better logistical understanding if there is a need to increase the scale of activity."

Laing Gahr, says 70 per cent of FortisBC customers are located on the mainland. Mother nature has been cooperating so far, with temperatures in most of B.C. well above seasonal. "We are feeling a lot more comfortable with our supply for the winter. It’s an innovative solution to the issue until Enbridge’s pipeline is back at 100% operating capacity."

FortisBC now says customers can go back to normal consumption in part because of these ingenious methods.

However FortisBC says people should still continue to be mindful of their energy use until the Enbridge pipeline is back to 100 per cent capacity.