The liquefied natural gas (LNG) company ENN Canada is seeking an extension on its temporary use permit for a piece of property it owns behind the Wagon West Travel Plaza.
ENN currently has a temporary fuelling station in operation and was expected to begin work on a permanent LNG fuelling facility back in May of this year.
However, construction of the permanent station did not start up as planned. It has been delayed because the temporary station hasn’t seen a sufficient number of customers on a daily basis yet, ENN marketing manager Chris Hoad told the Herald.
Hoad said ENN set the mark at 20 to 30 trucks using the temporary fuelling station per day in order to warrant building a permanent station.
Between 10 and 15 commercial trucks per day fuel up at the company’s temporary liquefied natural gas station, Hoad said.
He said this usage threshold is a strategy ENN employs for all its fuelling stations across Canada.
City of Merritt planning and development services manager Sean O’Flaherty said staff will be recommending to council that ENN be given an 18-month extension on its temporary use permit.
Only one extension is allowed on this type of permit. If the extension runs out before a permanent facility is in place, ENN would essentially have to remove its temporary station from the property, O’Flaherty told the Herald.
The company has already deposited more than $100,000 in bonding to the city for landscaping, a good sign the developer intends to see the fuelling station through to fruition, O’Flaherty said.
The permanent station is expected to bring 11 jobs to the city.
Construction of a permanent station is estimated to take between six and nine months to complete, Hoad said. It is anticipated to start sometime between 2015 and 2016.
ENN Canada is a wholly owned subsidiary of ENN Group, a global leader in alternative clean energy solutions and one of the largest natural gas distributors in China.
LNG is a low-carbon, clean and less expensive alternative to diesel. It is colorless, odorless, non-toxic and non-corrosive.
