TC Energy gets FERC approval for Northwest Xpress gas pipeline expansion

TC Energy Inc. has received US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorization to begin work on its 150-MMcfd Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) Xpress expansion project. The project would provide expanded service from GTN’s Kingsgate meter station at Idaho’s border with British Columbia, Canada, to its Malin meter station in Klamath County, Ore.

The expansion will be accomplished by increasing power at three existing GTN compressor stations (CS):

• The No. 5 Athol CS, in Kootenai County, Idaho, will be increased to 58,470 hp from 49,300 hp by uprating an existing Solar Turbine Titan 130 gas-fired compressor to 23,470 hp from 14,300 hp via reprogramming the unit’s software controls.
• The No. 7 Starbuck CS, in Walla Walla County, Wash., will be increased to 86,640 hp from 54,000 hp by installing a new 23,470-hp Solar Turbine Titan 130 compressor and uprating an existing Solar Turbine Titan 130 compressor.
• The No. 10 Kent CS, in Sherman County, Ore., will be increased to 57,070 hp from 47,900 hp by uprating an existing Solar Turbine Titan 130 gas-fired compressor via software reprogramming.

FERC had been asked by environmentalists and the attorneys general of Washington and Oregon to reassess its initial October 2023 approval of the project. The project has cleared required environmental reviews and was deemed necessary by FERC.

The 2.7-bcfd GTN Xpress delivers Canadian-sourced natural gas from Washington through Idaho and Oregon to northern California.