In Canada, ATCO Energy Solutions, an ATCO company has announced it has partnered with ethanol producer Future Fuel Ltd to build and operate a renewable natural gas (RNG) facility in Alberta (AB). Located north of Vegreville, AB, the Two Hills RNG Facility is ATCO's first commercial RNG production facility and strategic investment in ATCO's clean fuels strategy.
ATCO Group is a diversified global corporation with investments in the essential services of structures and logistics, utilities, energy infrastructure, retail energy, transportation, and commercial real estate. Future Fuel owns and operates a 40 million litre per annum grain ethanol plant in Two Hills county, Vegreville, AB.
The RNG facility combines organic waste from nearby municipalities with agricultural waste to produce approximately 230 000 gigajoules (GJ) per annum of RNG injected into the natural gas grid under a long-term sales contract.
The project will lead to the avoidance of up to 20 000 tonnes per year of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) emissions. Future Fuel, with deep experience in biofuels and agricultural biomass, is a key partner in developing the project and expanding the reach of the facility to new markets.
The construction and operation of the facility will be managed by ATCO Energy Solutions.
This facility is an important investment in the advancement of ATCO’s clean fuels strategy. ATCO is leading the shift to a lower-carbon energy system by enabling our customers’ energy transition to cleaner fuels such as renewable natural gas and hydrogen. We are actively investing in sustainable energy projects – here in Alberta and globally – in an effort to decarbonize the way we live and work, in support of a safe, reliable, affordable, and cleaner energy future, said Bob Jones, President, ATCO Energy Solutions.
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. This is equivalent to supplying 1.5 million Canadian homes with renewable natural gas.
RNG projects provide innovative resource recovery solutions and improved waste management opportunities to sectors such as municipal organics and agricultural byproducts, which are striving to meet increased diversion targets and emissions reductions goals.
ERA funding
ATCO, as a leading energy infrastructure provider with a long history of gas handling and upgrading, is uniquely suited to develop these projects and help its customers combat climate change, and convert waste into an ongoing source of clean fuel. ATCO is actively developing several RNG and Clean Fuels projects to help Canada meet its climate change goals.
We are pleased to announce our partnership with ATCO Energy Solutions to recommission and repurpose an idle biogas asset in Two Hills County. This project adds organics processing facilities in the Capital Region, offering a solution to both municipalities and the confined feeding industry for organics processing and emissions reductions. We look forward to continued cooperation with ATCO Energy Solutions and Emissions Reduction Alberta, said Brian Nilsson, Director at Future Fuel.
Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) has committed CA$7.9 million to the project through its Natural Gas Challenge. This investment comes from the Government of Alberta and is sourced from the Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund.
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.
