WBI will begin Valley Expansion nat gas line

OREANDA-NEWS. September 08, 2016. MDU Resources subsidiary WBI Energy said it will move forward with the Valley Expansion pipeline project to supply natural gas from Canada to North Dakota and Minnesota.

The 38-mile (61 km) pipeline would connect the Viking Gas transmission interstate gas pipeline near Felton, Minnesota, to WBI's transmission pipeline near Mapleton, North Dakota, with an initial capacity of 40mn cf/d (1.1mn m?/d). Viking transports Canadian gas from a point near Emerson, Manitoba.

The project is estimated to cost between \\$55mn-\\$60mn and has an expected in-service date in early 2018, contingent on approvals from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

"This project was initiated because of customer interest in bringing more natural gas to growing eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota, and that interest certainly was supported during our open season," said WBI chief operating officer Martin Fritz.

WBI held an open season for the pipeline that was scheduled to end on 15 July.

The project could serve commercial facilities and new gas-fired power plants under construction. In Minnesota a total of 508MW of gas-fired power plants are in various stages of regulatory approvals, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). In North Dakota utilities have finished construction for about 233MW of new gas-fired plants that is yet to produce commercially.

Midcontinent utilities are relying more on gas fired plants amid coal retirements. For example, Xcel Energy retired two coal-fired units at its Black Dog power plant in Egan, Minnesota, in April 2015 but continued to operate a 300MW gas unit at that plant. Black Dog is awaiting regulatory approval to add 238MW of additional gas-fired capacity which expected to come on line in 2018, according to the EIA

Northern Natural gas pipeline has requested authorization from FERC to build and operate its Cedar Station upgrade project, which has contractual obligations to provide an increased delivery pressure to Black Dog.