Why the western Newfoundland salt dome proponent says project is of national interest

Triple Point Resources Ltd. believes its Fischells Salt Dome project in western Newfoundland is worthy of consideration by the federal Major Projects Office on two fronts.

The project involves carving out huge caverns in a 226-square-kilometre salt deposit in western Newfoundland that would store compressed air that could be used to generate electricity.

Wind turbines that create electricity for the provincial grid, which is located near the proposed facility on the salt deposit Triple Point plans to tap into, would be used to generate the compressed air.

The stored compressed air would be accessed on-demand to drive the turbines when there is no natural wind.

The power generated could be available to both the domestic market in Newfoundland and Labrador and for export along the Maritime Link project connected to Nova Scotia. The company has said the project could serve as “the battery that all Atlantic Canada needs.”

Julie Lemieux, Triple Point’s chief executive officer, said that’s just one aspect of the salt dome project that should warrant it being a nationally significant project.

The other is the notion that caverns may also be hollowed out that could serve to hold strategic national oil reserves, something which Canada currently does not have.

Lemieux said Triple Point has had discussions with the federal government, including Natural Resources Canada and the Major Projects Office, and hopes to also engage the provincial government to see if it would support the notion of the salt dome project being worthy of being a major project.

“I think, for the province, we’re very well positioned to support the country, to support our allies and continue to go in that direction,” she said.

“I see two projects of national importance. Hopefully, that can happen, and that can be announced at one point in the near future.”

Postmedia asked the Major Projects Office what it might take for the salt dome to earn that distinction.

No one was made available for an interview and the office deferred to the office’s website for information about the criteria.

“To avoid influencing potential decisions and discussions, the Major Projects Office will refrain from commenting publicly on potential projects,” stated the reply.

According to the Major Projects Office website, initiatives may be pitched by proponents, Indigenous groups, industry associations on behalf of proponents, premiers through First Ministers’ Meetings or by federal departments or ministers.

For instance, in August, Prime Minister Mark Carney referred the Labrador Trough Clean Power, Critical Minerals and Infrastructure Corridor to the Major Projects Office. It was part of the proposed new Churchill Falls hydroelectricity agreement between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

More recently, the feds referred the West Coast Oil Pipeline, which would transport a million barrels of crude oil between Alberta and the British Columbia coast for export every day, to the projects office.

Once a project is submitted, it is evaluated on five factors outlined in the Building Canada Act, including the extent to which the project can:

• Strengthen Canada’s autonomy, resilience and security
• Provide economic or other benefits to Canada
• Have a high likelihood of successful execution
• Advance the interests of Indigenous Peoples
• Contribute to clean growth and to Canada’s objectives with respect to climate change

If assessment demonstrates that a project has the potential to move forward, it undergoes a more detailed evaluation, followed by recommendations and advice from the office to government, which then decides if the project is worthy of more structured support as a project of national interest.

Those supports include help resolving policy or regulatory challenges and reducing risk, assistance structuring public and private funding and investment, and providing guidance on engagement with Indigenous peoples whose rights or interests may be impacted by a project.

Projects not referred to the Major Projects Office can still get help in other ways, including discussing requirements and measures that can be taken to advance the project, referral to another federal or provincial department for assistance and benefitting from government’s work on regulatory reform.

The Fischells Salt Dome project is still navigating Newfoundland and Labrador’s regulatory framework.

The project was initially registered with the environmental assessment process in June, but that registration had to be withdrawn in September and has since been resubmitted.

That was necessary to revise the project’s intended market focus, including the use of wind-generated electricity to support operation of the compressed air storage system and the exploration of potential future export opportunities.

The wording of the original document, explained Lemieux, did not adhere to the provincial regulation that any power generation being sold to the grid must be done so through Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro.

The overall nature of the project, and where Triple Point Resources hopes to use its power — namely, for its own operations and for export to Nova Scotia via Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro — has not been changed in the revision.

“This was really just a technicality on the law, and we want to obviously respect the law in Newfoundland and Labrador,” said Lemieux. “(Government) decided that we needed to adjust the language there. So, we did.”

The revised document is open to public comment until Oct. 24. The environment minister’s decision on further assessment should land by Nov. 2.