Meet our Prime Contractors: SA Energy
Over the coming months, we will be profiling our four prime contractors. This month we are profiling SA Energy.
In 2018, Coastal GasLink selected SA Energy Group to construct segments three and four of the 670-kilometre project. In selecting our prime contractors, we sought out highly qualified companies that met our core principles for safety, environmental stewardship and Indigenous and stakeholder engagement.
We caught up with Tyler Madigan, VP and Managing Director of SA Energy Group and asked him a few questions about his role with the Coastal GasLink Project.
Tell us about SA Energy?
SA Energy Group is a partnership between Robert B. Somerville and Aecon Construction Group. For the past seven years we’ve worked together on a number of projects spanning 1,500 kilometres across Canada. Many of the projects we have worked on have been TC Energy projects in Alberta and British Columbia.
Can you speak a little bit about what sections you will be working on for the Coastal GasLink Project?
SA Energy Group is the general contractor for sections three and four, which includes about 200 kilometres of pipeline in the Prince George and Vanderhoof area. Right now, we are working with local businesses and workers to set up workforce accommodations by the Parsnip River location. Our construction plan is to complete the sections over two seasons starting with clearing and pre-work this summer, and moving on to mainline construction after the migratory bird window in the summer of 2020.
Tell us a bit about your approach to safety and environmental protection?
Safety, quality, environmental compliance and meaningful engagement with Indigenous and local communities – that’s our culture, and something that goes beyond policies and procedures. It’s what we believe in and what we live by every day.
How are you including the local workforce in your construction program?
From the beginning, we have believed that the thing that will make us different to other projects is how we engage communities and work with local businesses and workers. We have brought SA Energy Group executives out into communities and to contracting fairs, because we believe this is how we can best show that we are committed and accountable to the communities where we work.
We have strict requirements from Coastal GasLink in terms of hiring local people first. But as a business it is also the right decision. We have a significant undertaking in front of us that will require substantial resources; we need to be engaging local communities to help us grow our capacity in the industry for this project and the future.
What excites you about being involved in Coastal GasLink?
This is a nation-building project. As a lifetime ‘pipeliner’ we don’t get opportunities to be part of projects like this very often. In my experience, we’ve worked on many projects on existing right of ways where you’re increasing capacity. This is a new project that allows us the opportunity to export Canadian natural gas to other countries. Having the opportunity to be involved in a project like that is exciting.
Connecting local people to jobs
Coastal GasLink is proud to be building a project that will employ thousands of people across British Columbia.
Our preference is, and will always be, to hire local residents first. With a downturn now impacting BC forest workers, we will be undertaking another round of job fairs and open houses starting in September to help connect local workers to potential job opportunities—including local forestry workers.
For more information on events near you, check your local newspapers or visit our Community Calendar.
To learn more about opportunities with SA Energy on the project, please contact:
Employment inquiries: CGLemployment@saenergygroup.com
Procurement inquiries: CGLprocurement@saenergygroup.com