Agreement reached on green natural gas facility

ABBOTSFORD, B.C.—An agreement has been finalized to sell renewable natural gas to FortisBC from an composting and organic processing facility in Abbotsford.

EverGen Infrastructure Corp. announced the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) has approved a renewable natural gas offtake agreement with FortisBC for the company’s anaerobic digester expansion project at its Net Zero Waste Abbotsford Inc. (NZWA) composting and organic processing facility.

EverGen previously announced its wholly owned subsidiary NZWA entered into a 20-year offtake agreement with FortisBC. Under the agreement, FortisBC will purchase up to 173,000 gigajoules of RNG annually for injection into its natural gas system. The project is expected to convert municipal and commercial organic waste into enough energy to meet the needs of approximately 1,900 residential homes.

Officials stated the agreement was the final regulatory step with respect to the NZWA offtake agreement. Upon completion of NZWA project development and construction activities, EverGen expects to begin supplying renewable natural gas from the project to FortisBC’s network by early 2023.

“The approval of the RNG offtake agreement for our anerobic digester project by BCUC marks an important milestone for the NZWA expansion project and moves the facility one step closer to having an even greater positive impact on our environment and reducing the negative effects of climate change,” said EverGen CEO Chase Edgelow in a press release. “Not only does our renewable natural gas platform and this project provide a positive solution and the highest end use for organic waste in the Lower Mainland region, it is also contributing to the use of carbon-neutral renewable fuel sources and captures emissions that would otherwise be released into the environment.”

RNG is a carbon neutral fuel made from decomposing organic waste. It can cut down on the amount of conventional natural gas in existing natural gas lines, thereby reducing the emissions from the natural gas system.

“Renewable Natural Gas is key to a lower carbon future for B.C., capturing methane that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere and repurposing it as carbon neutral energy in our existing natural gas system,” said Scott Gramm, manager of renewable gas supply with FortisBC. “Adding new RNG supply is crucial in lowering provincial emissions and we’re happy to welcome EverGen to our list of RNG suppliers who are helping make that possible.”