Bismarck-based MDU Resources expects a project to bring natural gas to the Doosan Bobcat plant in Gwinner will be finished by this fall.
MDU will be building 21 miles of pipeline from the Alliance Pipeline to the Bobcat plant.
"Materials are being purchased, and will be delivered soon to the site," said MDU Resources president and CEO David Goodin. "Right-of-way is being secured."
Goodin said the project itself will only take about 60 to 90 days to build, once the preliminary work is done.
The utility has approached other cities along the route. Goodin said a Hutterite colony close to the new pipeline is also interested in natural gas.
"We would see these as likely customers because of the good value of natural gas," Goodin said. "We see long-term, stable pricing of gas."
Meanwhile, MDU Resources plans to have its “Valley Expansion” natural gas pipeline project finished before the end of the year. The project would connect the Viking Pipeline in Minnesota to the Williston Basin Pipeline in North Dakota. MDU will build 38 miles of pipeline between Mapleton, North Dakota and Felton, Minnesota.
Goodin said the project will shore up reliability.
"We will be bi-directional," Goodin said. "In the event something would happen, such as the line being dug into, we have two ways to feed the customers. That helps from a system security and safety perspective."
Goodin said it could open up the possibility of more customers for natural gas.
"We will see added capacity to bring to those eastern North Dakota communities," Goodin said. "Most of the current capacity is being used. This should aid in some of those economic development efforts, to attract-in new businesses, and allow current businesses to expand."
