|
Final EIS issued for proposed ASAP Corps of Engineers issues final environmental impact statement for Alaska Stand Alone Gas Pipeline; record of decision in November Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
The final environmental impact statement is out for the proposed Alaska Stand Alone Gas Pipeline, ASAP, a project of the State of Alaska under the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., AGDC.
The 30-day public comment and review period for the FEIS ends Nov. 26, after which a record of decision will be issued, but the Corps said that can only occur after a complete application is received and the public review process has been completed. The Corps said AGDC is “gathering the information necessary for a complete application.”
The proposed project is a 24-inch gas pipeline from the North Slope to the Cook Inlet area with a 12-inch lateral to Fairbanks. Initial flow is projected at 250 million cubic feet per day, but the project is sized to accommodate up to 500 million cubic feet per day.
ASAP would relieve a shortfall of natural gas in Cook Inlet projected for the near future, 2013-15; provide for conversion to natural gas heating in Fairbanks; provide a stable and reliable source of natural gas to meet demands up to 500 million cubic feet per day; provide a source of natural to spur economic development of commercial and industrial enterprises in Fairbanks and Southcentral; and provide economic benefit to the state through royalties and taxes.
Denali route alternative The FEIS includes a no action alternative and a project route variation which would go through Denali National Park and Preserve, requiring congressional approval. The Corps said the Denali National Park Route variation is a “reasonable alternative that would present environmental advantages over the proposed Project route.” The Corps said the Alaska congressional delegation has introduced legislation which would allow the route variation and said if federal legislation allowed it, the variation “is a reasonable alternative that could minimize visual impacts in the area of Denali National Park and Preserve.”
Under a discussion of seismic zones and fault considerations the Corps said three design approaches are being considered for areas of high seismic activity and/or fault zones: use of aboveground sliding supports for the pipeline; placing the line “in an aboveground berm constructed of low-strength soil”; and putting the line “in an oversized ditch surrounded by low-strength crushable material or loose granular fill.”
Natural gas alternatives The FEIS looks at a number of energy source alternatives, including Kenai Peninsula and Cook Inlet natural gas.
No significant natural gas discoveries have been made in Cook Inlet since the 1960s, but exploration wells have been proposed by several leaseholders, the Corps said.
The FEIS notes the well drilled in 2011 by Escopeta Oil (now Furie Operating Alaska) at the Kitchen Lights unit using a jack-up drilling rig, but concludes: “Until firm data are available from the discovery well and likely from several more confirmation wells the true potential of the discovery is not known.”
A second jack-up has arrived in Cook Inlet, but has not initiated drilling.
“New Kenai Peninsula and Cook Inlet natural gas reserves that could provide a long-term, stable supply of natural gas to markets in the Fairbanks and Cook Inlet areas remain unproven at this time,” the Corps said.
There is also the possibility of natural gas in the Nenana basin or at Gubik as an alternative to North Slope natural gas, but the Corps said the Nenana basin remains unproven and characterized Gubik in the foothills of the Brooks Range as “a commercially unproven prospective gas field.”
A liquefied natural gas import alternative would require an LNG import terminal with marine access to supplies from outside Alaska, the Corps said.
“An LNG terminal, storage, and regasification facility would have to be constructed near Cook Inlet and connected to the existing natural gas pipeline system.”
While that alternative could supply Southcentral, “it would not provide a new natural gas pipeline connection to Fairbanks, and would not utilize North Slope natural gas.”
Hydroelectric, nuclear alternatives The Corps concluded that hydroelectric projects would “reduce, but not replace, the existing and future need for natural gas.”
In 2008, the Alaska State Legislature authorized the Alaska Energy Authority to update a Susitna River hydroelectric project plan, and “AEA is currently in the planning stages for a Susitna-Watana hydroelectric project with 600 MW of electrical power generating capacity,” although the average output per day would probably be about 300 megawatts.
The earliest power from that project would be 2022.
Other identified hydroelectric projects include Glacier Fork, at 75 MW, and Chakachamna, at 330 MW.
The Corps said Alutiiq LLC has been marketing a new small, modular nuclear power plant and has approached Chugach Electric Association “about the development of a modular nuclear power plant for the specific purpose of repowering at the existing Beluga power plant site,” currently natural-gas fired.
If that project moved forward, 2020 would be the earliest estimate for the start of electrical generation.
The Corps said that project “could somewhat reduce, but not completely replace, the existing and future needs for natural gas.” The proposed nuclear project would produce some 27 MW of electrical output, leaving a remaining 347 MW requiring natural gas power.
“Further, the Beluga power plant project is uncertain and would not be developed within a timeframe that would meet the proposed Project’s objectives,” the Corps said.
Coal, coal gas, renewables The Corps said the Healy Clean Coal Project, if operational, “could reduce, but not replace existing and future needs for natural gas.”
While the proposed Accelergy-Tyonek coal-to-liquids project would generate 200 MW to 400 MW of electricity from waste heat (the main focus is aviation fuel), up to 200 million cubic feet per day of natural gas could be used in the process.
Pulverized coal power generating facilities have been proposed in the Railbelt, but Usibelli Coal Mine is the only operational coal mine in Alaska, the Corps said.
There are undeveloped coal resources at Chuitna and near Beluga, and if those were developed electrical power generated by coal “could reduce existing daily natural gas demand.”
The Corps said there are a number of renewable projects identified and in planning or implementation and while they could reduce the need for natural gas, they would not replace it because of their limited size.
| 