From Fort Nelson in northeastern B.C. and from Gordondale near the Alberta border...
Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. has struck a C$2.7-billion joint venture with global investment firms KKR & Co. Inc. and Apollo Asset Management Inc. to fund two pipeline expansions within its Westcoast natural gas system in British Columbia.
The deal, announced August 27, gives the two investors a combined indirect interest of 29 per cent in the aggregate Westcoast system once the later expansion enters service. Enbridge retains majority ownership and full operational control.
The partnership covers the Aspen Point and Sunrise Expansion Programs. KKR is leading the transaction in collaboration with Apollo-managed funds, with C$700 million in cash flowing to Enbridge at closing, according to the KKR press release.
The Aspen Point program has been under construction since spring 2025 and is expected to add more than 500 million cubic feet per day to Enbridge's B.C. network, with completion targeted before year-end 2026.
The larger Sunrise program will push the Westcoast system's total daily capacity from 3.6 billion cubic feet to 3.9 billion cubic feet.
Sunrise is slated to enter service in late 2028, following federal approval of the 139-kilometre expansion this past April, as the Calgary Herald reported.
Both expansions are commercially underpinned by long-term take-or-pay contracts and already hold regulatory approval. Investors will begin receiving distributions as each project comes online.
The Westcoast system stretches more than 2,900 kilometres, from Fort Nelson in northeastern B.C. and from Gordondale near the Alberta border, south to the Canada-U.S. border at Huntingdon/Sumas.
It supplies customers across B.C., the Lower Mainland, Alberta, and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The federal government's April approval of the Sunrise expansion was partly aimed at ensuring sufficient gas supply as export terminals such as Woodfibre LNG come online
-Julie Bergeron/Business Examiner
Enbridge's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Pat Murray described the transaction as a way to efficiently recycle capital and strengthen the company's balance sheet while preserving financial flexibility to pursue further growth.
Murray also noted the deal reflects Enbridge's broader capital recycling program, which has generated C$19 billion in proceeds since 2014.
KKR Managing Director Paul Workman described the Westcoast pipeline as critical natural gas infrastructure serving Western Canada and North America, with stable long-term cash flows.
Apollo Partner Jamshid Ehsani, , characterized the Westcoast system as essential to meeting growing demand in B.C., the U.S. Pacific Northwest, and international LNG markets.
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