Enbridge has big expansion plans in store for Chatham-Kent.
The energy giant is investing $350 million in two major projects designed to boost the municipality’s access to energy and better position Chatham-Kent for future growth.
The first project, called the Panhandle Regional Expansion Project, includes the construction of 19 kilometres of new pipeline.
The line will be built adjacent to an existing pipeline corridor between the Dover Transmission Station, located at Balmoral Line and Town Line Road.
A new station will also be built in Lakeshore.
Subject to Ontario Energy Board approval, if given the go-ahead, construction on the $300 million pipeline would begin in early 2023, with some components to be completed in 2024.
The second piece of the investment involves a partnership with Waste Connections of Canada, which will see a $50-million renewable natural gas facility (RNG) built at the Ridge Landfill site near Blenheim.
When complete, the new plant will be able to heat 40,000 homes in Chatham-Kent by repurposing decomposing waste. It’s expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 110,000 tonnes per year.
The new RNG facility also needs OEB approval, and, if granted, construction will commence in spring 2023 with an end date later that year.
Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff said Enbridge is stepping up to bolster Chatham-Kent’s growing energy needs.
“Enbridge is ensuring that C-K meets these growing demands by undertaking this significant infrastructure investment,” Canniff said in a media statement, adding both projects support the municipality’s future as an “important economic hub and hotspot for growth.”
Chatham-Kent council recently agreed to throw their formal support behind both of the Ontario Energy Board applications.
