Pembina Pipeline plans to build a new 55,000 bpd natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionator at its Redwater complex in Alberta, Canada.

The fractionator, named RFS III, will be the third NGL fractionator at the Redwater site. It is expected to be in service by the 2017 third quarter.

The propane-plus RFS III fractionator will raise total Redwater capacity to 210,000 bpd. A planned de-ethanizer tower on RFS III could later raise overall site capacity to 228,000 bpd.

"We are excited to have secured the commercial agreements to proceed with building a third fractionator," said Stuart Taylor, Pembina's senior vice president for its NGL and natural gas facilities business.

"RFS III will provide our customers with timely fractionation capacity along with efficient storage and market access through our well-established facilities at Redwater," he added. "Leveraging our existing assets and using similar plant designs again demonstrates the value of our integrated strategy."

The RFS III project remains subject to standard regulatory and environmental approvals.