Over half of Alaska’s population lives in the region. The utilities, including Chugach, have been seriously concerned with reduced gas supply from aging producing fields and have been exploring options to import LNG, most likely from British Columbia. “It’s positive to hear about another possible option to provide a firm gas supply to serve our members,” said Julie Estey, spokeswoman for Matanuska Electric Association. “MEA will continue to work with our utility partners to develop the best project to bridge the gap toward a more diversified energy future” MEA is working on other options to diversity its sources of fuel away from natural gas, Estey said. The project at Nikiski announced Feb. 6, “leverages MPC’s (Marathon) legacy LNG export infrastructure to alleviate a potential short-term natural gas shortage facing Southcentral Alaska. The facility includes existing dock infrastructure which was historically capable of handling LNG vessels up to 138,000 cubic meters (approximately 2.9 billion cubic feet) of natural gas,” Harvest officials said. “This infrastructure, combined with existing FERC approvals, positions the facility to meet near-term energy needs while longer-term alternatives are developed.” Marathon operates a nearby refinery at Nikiski that mainly makes jet fuel and gasoline for the Alaska market. The company uses natural gas at the refinery and acquired the LNG export plant from ConocoPhillips as an option to import LNG for the refinery’s needs. Marathon also applied for, and received, a FERC license to convert the plant from an export to import facility. Chugach Electric is part of the deal as a customer to buy LNG brought in by Harvest other regional electric utilities such as Matanuska Electric Association and Homer Electric, along with Enstar, who will be able to make purchases. The utilities, along with Hilcorp, now the region’s major gas producer, are also moving the expand gas storage capabilities using depleted gas reservoirs to bolster regional energy security. Enstar operates the Cook Inlet Natural Gas Storage Alaska facility on the Kenai Peninsula, which is being expanded, and Hilcorp and Chugach are studying the possibility of storing gas in depleted gas reservoirs in the area. Enstar has meanwhile been working on its own LNG import plan with Glenfarne, a New York-based company that develops LNG and power generation projects. This project, also at Nikiski, would require construction of new LNG import facilities such as a terminal and storage tank. This is in contrast with the Harvest-Marathon deal that would use the existing facilities at the former ConocoPhillips plant. — Tim Bradner CONTINUED from PAGE 18 THE LINK: MARCH 2025 20 Southcentral Alaska utilities have explored ways to overcome a reduced gas supply, inlcuding importation of LNG.
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