By MorinvilleNews.com Staff
Sturgeon County – A development permit approval by Sturgeon County has put Williams Energy one step closer to expanding the company’s fractionation facility near Redwater. The proposed $230 million expansion project is scheduled to begin in early 2012 and will add a 151-foot tall de-ethanizer tower to strip off ethane/ethylene components.
Modifications to the Redwater facility will turn hydrocarbon liquids into higher value products, including feedstock for the petrochemical industry. These products will be delivered to alberta-based markets through existing pipelines. The recovery of hydrocarbon liquids will reduce sulphur dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions in Fort McMurray – compounds that are released into the atmosphere when hydrocarbon liquids are burned as a fuel gas.
“The Williams Energy De-ethanizer project will be a strategically important asset to Alberta’s Industrial Heartland and the overall petrochemical industry in the province,” said Neil Shelly, Executive Director at Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Association in a release Monday. “By tapping into this new and growing source of feedstock, it will help sustain the existing industries and open new doors for potential future investments in Alberta’s petrochemical sector.”
It is believed the Redwater Williams’ expansion will add incremental ethane supplies in Alberta, products that are in high demand for Canada’s petrochemical industry.
Sturgeon County Mayor Don Rigney is pleased with the advancement of the project. “Williams’ expansion project will foster long term sustainability, Jobs, pensions and benefits generated by the project will enable our residents to live, work and play in Sturgeon County,” he said in the same release.
