The Canadian energy infrastructure group TC Energy has raised CAD2.1bn (US$1.5bn) for its Coastal GasLink Pipeline project in Canada, by completing the sale of a 65% stake in the gas pipeline project to private equity firms KKR and Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), as agreed in December 2019, and by executing a credit agreement with a syndicate of banks that will finance the majority of the construction costs for the project. Earlier in May 2020, the Canadian export credit agency Export Development Canada (EDC) approved a loan of between CAD250m (US$179m) and CAD500m (US$359m) for the project.
The Coastal GasLink is a proposed 670-km long gas pipeline linking the Western Canadian basin in northeast British Columbia to the West Coast around Kitimat (BC), where the shipped gas will be liquefied at the Shell-led LNG Canada project. Coastal GasLink took a final investment decision on the pipeline in October 2018 and the project broke ground in early 2019 with commissioning expected in 2023. The gas pipeline project would have an initial capacity of 2.1 bcf/d (59 mcm/d or 21.5 bcm/year), which could later be expanded to 5 bcf/d (141 mcm/d or 51 bcm/year). The project is opposed by First Nations.