Energy East 101

The proposed Energy East Pipeline project will convert 3,000 km of existing natural gas pipeline to crude oil service and will include the construction of 1,600 km of new pipeline. The Energy East Pipeline plans to run between Hardisty, Alta., to Saint John, N.B. The exact pipeline route will not be finalized until we have assessed and incorporated input from numerous stakeholders, including First Nation and Métis communities, landowners, local communities and provincial and federal governments.

In October 2014, TransCanada filed a formal project application for the Energy East Pipeline with the National Energy Board (NEB) of Canada. The application was an important milestone in a multi-step regulatory process to receive the necessary approvals to build and operate the proposed Energy East project.

It is also the result of more than 18 months of extensive environmental studies, engineering work and public consultation, making it one of the most comprehensive regulatory applications in the history of Canada’s energy transportation industry.

Once all necessary regulatory approvals are received, we will start construction, with the pipeline targeted to be in service by 2020.

You have questions on the project? Let’s talk.

TransCanada is committed to having an open and transparent engagement process with Indigenous communities, landowners and local residents along the pipeline’s pathway. This is why the Energy East team has already engaged with close to 500 communities, 155 Indigenous communities and organizations, and more than 5,500 landowners in the six provinces the pipeline will go through.

We have held more than 115 open houses, attended by over 9,000 Canadians, and participated in hundreds of public meetings to answer questions about the project and discuss important topics, such as water safety, pipeline integrity, economic benefits and job opportunities. These local events also help TransCanada gather crucial public feedback that will help guide our development plans.

We will hold more open houses in the months to come. We encourage you to attend and ask questions about the project so we can provide information, follow up on concerns, and take your input into account.

Developing positive, long-term relationships with those who live along the Energy East Pipeline route is an essential part of our project, because we want to be a good neighbour and a trusted community partner.

(Watch Energy East engineers and environmental specialists answer some of questions you’ve asked)

As part of the Energy East Pipeline project, TransCanada plans to convert to oil transportation a portion of an existing natural gas pipeline network called the Canadian Mainline. Repurposing pipelines is something TransCanada has already done successfully throughout its 60-year history. The most recent example is the conversion of 860 km of the Mainline for the Keystone Pipeline System, which has safely delivered more than one billion barrels of crude oil to the United States since it began operating in July 2010.

As safety is an essential part of everything we do, the first step of the Mainline conversion will involve a thorough cleaning of the pipeline and inspections with high-resolution tools to identify potential issues. Once the integrity of the pipeline has been re-assessed, we will install electronic leak-detection systems that allow TransCanada to monitor pipeline operations 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from its high-tech control centre in Calgary.

Energy East Pipeline is wholly owned by TransCanada Corporation. Investors can invest in Energy East Pipeline by investing in TransCanada. Our common shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TRP. For more information about investing in TransCanada, visit our Investor Relations section on TransCanada.com.

We tend to think of oil as something we need only to fuel cars or planes, but we need oil for many other things. In fact, hundreds of everyday products are made from crude oil, including cosmetics, carpets, pantyhose, electronics and plastics, but also items essential to our health and well-being, such as heart valves, Aspirin, prescription glasses, soap and toothpaste. What do skis, a life jacket, a refrigerator, a pillow and soft contact lenses have in common? They are all based on petroleum, so it’s no wonder that Canadians consume about 2.3 million barrels of oil every day.

Crude oil is a fossil fuel or hydrocarbon made primarily of hydrogen and carbon. Depending on sulphur content, crude oil ranges from light to heavy and from sweet to sour. Energy East will move a variety of crude types, including conventional crude oil, diluted bitumen and synthetic crude oil.

Found in Alberta’s oil sands, among other places, bitumen is a raw material that must be either upgraded to a synthetic specification, similar to West Texas light crude to become a synthetic crude oil or blended with light petroleum products, such as gasoline, to become diluted bitumen. Diluted bitumen is physically and chemically indistinguishable from other heavy crude oils.

There are two ways. The first, called “surface mining,” involves using large trucks and shovels to scrape up oil collected in the sand. The second, called “in-situ production”, involves injecting steam into the ground that heats up the bitumen, combines it with water and forces it to the surface where it can be separated from the water.

About 75 per cent of Canada’s crude oil is processed into transportation fuel. The oil transported by Energy East will be used to create gasoline, jet fuel and countless other petroleum-based products that millions of Canadians rely on every day – from the electronic device you are reading on right now to clothing, cosmetics, prescription glasses, bike helmets and even bubble gum.

A fundamental principle for TransCanada is the protection of the public and the environment from the effects of a spill. Safety drives our decisions – every single day. We invest hundreds of millions of dollars each year to maintain the integrity of our pipelines and ensure our 70,000-km network across North America functions as it is intended to.

Energy East Pipeline will use state-of-the-art technology, including heavier walled pipe under large bodies of water, high-performance coatings, and erosion protection and drainage controls. Shut-off valves will be installed at pump stations and at regular intervals along the pipeline between pump stations. Satellite technology will send information from multiple data points to our monitoring centre every five seconds. Should a drop in pressure happen, the shut-off valves would be remotely closed within minutes, shutting down the pipeline.

We will carry out regular “in-line” inspections, in which an instrumented device is run through the pipeline to create a map of pipeline wall-thickness and integrity. These are just a few of the safety measures we will implement. Along with these, the Energy East team will set up comprehensive Emergency Response Plans (ERP) that involve the placement of specialized equipment and trained field crews along the entire route, as well as regular training exercises.