Cancarb Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., has completed the expansion of its thermal carbon black operations in Medicine Hat, Alta. The $28 million (Can.) expansion increases Cancarb's production capacity by 25% to 45,000 tonnes/year. Waste heat generated by Cancarb's expanded operations will fuel TransCanada's associated 47-Mw cogeneration plant, which is being constructed adjacent to the Cancarb facility. The power plant is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year. Electricity from the plant will be sold to the city of Medicine Hat under a 20-year agreement.
Canada's National Energy Board on Monday has received two applications from ProGas Ltd. for natural gas export licenses. One application, filed jointly with RDO Foods Co., is for a long-term license to export gas, while the second application is to amend an existing gas export license. ProGas and RDO applied for a license to export gas for 8 years beginning Nov. 1, 2000, to RDO for its potato processing plant in Grand Forks, ND. Gas would be exported through Emerson, Man., at rate of 1.4 MMcfd. The second application asks to extend an existing contract from Nov. 1, 2000, to Oct. 31, 2008, and increase the quantity of gas that may be exported during the term of the license from 21.9 bcf to 109.6 bcf. Under the existing license, ProGas exports gas near Monchy, Sask., to ProGas USA, which then resells it in markets in the US Midwest. All of the gas would be supplied from producers in Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan under contracts with ProGas.