It’s been a week since the Interior Gas Utility received the first of four tankerloads of liquified natural gas from the North Slope. Observers called the shipments historic because it was the first time natural gas extracted and processed on the Slope was transported to market.
And also because it was an important step in the utility’s transition to a sustainable source of the fuel. But IGU’s top executive says it’ll take a while to complete that process.
The first delivery of North Slope LNG arrived Oct. 8 at IGU’s massive storage tank on the south side of Fairbanks. But General Manager Elena Sudduth says for now additional shipments are on hold while Harvest Midstream, the company that owns LNG plant, completes commissioning of the facility.
“ Harvest has to commission its plant,” she said, “and commissioning an LNG plant is quite the activity, as you might imagine.”
It’s an extensive process that requires testing all systems and components to ensure they’re safe and performing as designed. Commissioning must be completed before the plant can begin full operation. Sudduth said Harvest Midstream filled IGU’s tankers last week as part of the testing of the system that loads tankers.
“ They have generated a little bit of LNG and that's what we have taken possession of,” she said. “And so over the commissioning period, they will continue making more and more LNG. And we will take possession of all of that.”
She says the utility will need three to four tankerloads of LNG every week for its 3,400 customers around Fairbanks and North Pole. But until the Harvest Midstream LNG facility is fully operational, IGU will continue to get most of the fuel from its Titan plant at Point MacKenzie, near Anchorage.
“ Harvest has to give us notice of the commencement date, and the commencement date can only occur on the first of any given month,” she said in an interview Thursday.
That could mean the Harvest Midstream plant will begin operation on Nov. 1 or Dec. 1. Sudduth said the company can’t say yet when that will happen. Company officials didn’t immediately respond Thursday to a request for more information.
The LNG project is already a year behind schedule, due to supply-chain issues and equipment problems. While IGU waits for commissioning to be completed, it’ll use LNG from the Titan plant.
“ Titan will continue bringing us deliveries up until the commencement date” Sudduth said. “And then, at the commencement date, we will no longer have any gas supply at Titan unless it's for an emergency.”
She says IGU bought 15 tanker-trailers [that hold 14,000 gallons of LNG each] for hauling LNG down from the Harvest Midstream plant near Deadhorse. She says IGU awarded the trucking contract to Fairbanks-based Middle Fork Logistics.
“ They've been hauling all of our LNG for over a year and a half now from the Titan facility.”
She says once the Harvest Midstream plant is commissioned and fully operating, IGU will ramp down production at the Titan facility.
The utility may then try to sell it -- since it will have already tapped into the virtually unlimited reserves of natural gas on the North Slope, it will no longer have to deal with the problem of dwindling natural reserves in the Cook Inlet.
