Although New England faces a host of natural gas transmission and storage challenges, many projects are in various stages of development in the region, according to a panel of energy industry executives.

The panel, who addressed attendees of the LDC Gas Forum Northeast in Boston on Tuesday, included Josh Gibbon, director of business development for Columbia Pipeline Group (CPG); Greg Crisp, general manager for business development at Spectra Energy Corp.; Sital Mody, vice president of marketing for Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC (TGP); and Cynthia Armstrong, director of marketing and business development for Portland Natural Gas Transmission System (PNGTS).

Gibbon reported that CPG currently has six projects under construction. One project — the East Side Expansion, which would provide 312,000 Dth/d of incremental firm service of Marcellus gas supplies to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets — is expected to be in service by September 2015 (see Shale Daily, Oct. 29, 2012).

According to Gibbon, the five other projects at CPG — the West Side Expansion (984,000 Dth/d); Cameron LNG (800,000); Giles County; Line 1570 Upgrade, and Chesapeake LNG — are expected to be in service between 4Q2014 and 3Q2017 (see Shale Daily, May 16, 2013; March 4, 2013). Meanwhile, Gibbon said CPG’s Leach & Rayne Xpress Project in the Marcellus and Utica shales, and its WB Xpress project in the Appalachian Basin, are both in development and projected to be in service by 4Q2017 and 4Q2018, respectively (see Shale Daily, March 12).

A plethora of projects, in the execution and development stages, are underway at Spectra.

Crisp reported that Spectra has nine projects, collectively more than $4 billion in investment, in the execution stage with in-service dates ranging from 4Q2014 to 1H2017. Meanwhile, another six projects totaling about $7 billion were in the development phase and expected to be in service between 2017 and 2020.

Of paramount interest to New England, Spectra’s Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) Expansion project would provide an additional 342 MMcf/d of capacity — expandable by 1.5 Bcf/d — for moving Marcellus production to Algonquin City Gates (see Shale Daily, July 10, 2013). Construction of the $1 billion project is expected to begin during 2Q2015, and be in service by 2H2016.

Crisp also reported that local distribution companies were in late stage negotiations with Spectra for its Atlantic Bridge Project, which would provide 200-300,000 Dth/d of additional capacity from Ramapo, NY, to Beverly, MA, and other city gates. Atlantic Bridge is proposed to be in service by November 2017 (see Daily GPI,Feb. 5).

In the New England region, Mody reported that TGP’s Niagara (158,000 Dth/d) and Connecticut (72,100) expansion projects are expected to be in service by November 2015 and November 2016, respectively. Outside New England, the company’s Broad Run (790,000) and Southwest Louisiana Supply (900,000) projects are expected to be in service by November 2017 (see Shale Daily, April 14; Dec. 20, 2013; May 23, 2013).

Mody said TGP is also actively developing its Northeast Energy Direct (NED) Project, which would bring Marcellus gas from Pennsylvania to markets in the Northeast. The project runs from Station No. 317 in Bradford County, PA, to a Dracut, MA. He said the company plans to have NED online by November 2018.

Armstrong reported that PNGTS’s Continent 2 Coast (C2C) Expansion project was scheduled to be in service by November 2016, with the addition of new upstream capacity from TransCanada.

The PNGTS system’s current capacity from Pittsburg, NH, to Westbrook, ME, is 168,000 Dth. Under C2C, that would be expanded to 335,000 Dth/d. Armstrong said the company had a successful open season in January, with the results backing further development (see Daily GPI, Dec. 3, 2013).