On Thursday, ATCO Energy Solutions, an ATCO company, announced it partnered with Future Fuel Ltd. Accordingly, this partnership will consist of building and operating a renewable natural gas (RNG) facility in Alberta.
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Therefore, located north of Vegreville, Alberta, the Two Hills RNG Facility is ATCO’s first commercial RNG production facility. Besides, it represents a strategic investment in ATCO’s clean fuels strategy.
Worth noting, RNG is a renewable fuel produced by capturing methane emissions that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.
About the proposed RNG facility – ATCO’s 1st
Indeed, the proposed Atco’s RNG facility will combine organic waste from nearby municipalities with agricultural waste. Thus, it could produce approximately 230,000 gigajoules per year of renewable natural gas; indeed, enough to fuel 2,500 homes that will enter the natural gas grid under a long-term sales contract.
Additionally, this project will reduce up to 20,000 tonnes per year of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.
Future Fuel, with deep experience in biofuels and agricultural biomass, is a critical partner in developing the project. Besides, it will help ATCO expanding the reach of the facility to new markets. On the other hand, ATCO Energy Solutions will manage the construction and operation of the facility.
In this sense, Bob Jones, President, ATCO Energy Solutions, said; “This facility is an important investment in the advancement of ATCO’s clean fuels strategy.”
Indeed, “ATCO is leading the shift to a lower-carbon energy system by enabling our customers’ energy transition; particularly, to cleaner fuels such as renewable natural gas and hydrogen,” continued Jones.
Therefore, “we are actively investing in sustainable energy projects – here in Alberta and globally – to decarbonize the way we live,” he concluded.
Canada’s potential in the market
While Canada currently produces approximately six (6) petajoules (PJ) of RNG per year, it has the potential to generate more than 150 PJ per year from various organics feedstocks, according to industry estimates.
In fact, this is equivalent to supplying 1.5 million Canadian homes with renewable natural gas. Moreover, RNG projects provide innovative resource recovery solutions and improved waste management opportunities to municipal organics and agricultural byproducts.
As a leading energy infrastructure provider with a long history of gas handling and upgrading, ATCO is uniquely suited to develop these projects. Also, to help its customers combat climate change and convert waste into an ongoing clean fuel source.
Lastly, Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) committed $7.9M to the project through its Natural Gas Challenge. Also, this investment comes from the Government of Alberta and the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund.
Finally, the project is currently undergoing detailed engineering work, with some construction activities expected to take place this year. Full commercial operation of the project is expected to be achieved in late 2022.
