BC utility marks 10th anniversary of Canadian RNG
On August 12, the day it recognized the 10th year of renewable natural gas (RNG) development in Canada, RNG pioneer FortisBC said it had begun receiving RNG from its ninth supplier, and third from outside the province.
The utility’s contract with Lethbridge Biogas is a notional arrangement – no RNG from Alberta biogas pioneer Lethbridge Biogas actually enters the FortisBC grid – but it’s still an important step in the BC utility’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
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“Greenhouse gases don’t recognize provincial borders, so our efforts to combat them shouldn’t be limited by geographical borders either,” says David Bennett, FortisBC’s director of renewable gas and low carbon fuels. “That’s why, while we continue to develop local sources of RNG, we’re also searching for opportunities to bring more RNG supply into our system from outside of the province.”
The utility has similar notional agreements with two other out-of-province RNG producers, both in Ontario. Under the Ontario contracts, suppliers inject into the Enbridge Gas system, which is part of the Canada-wide natural gas trading system, and FortisBC accounts for the arrangement by taking notional delivery of the same volume from Enbridge via the national grid.
The agreement with Lethbridge Biogas works in a similar fashion. Lethbridge Biogas injects RNG into the ATCO system in Alberta, and FortisBC withdraws the same volume of system gas from ATCO at the Nova Inventory Transfer hub.
Lethbridge Biogas has been operating a 100,000 metric ton anaerobic digestion facility since 2013, and earlier this year added a biogas upgrading system to enable the production of grid-quality RNG. With the upgrading facility operational, it recently signed an agreement to supply FortisBC with up to 350,000 GJ/year of RNG.
“RNG has become a highly sought-after commodity to reduce the carbon footprint in the natural gas supply chain,” says Stefan Michalski, director of operations for Lethbridge Biogas. “This is a significant milestone for us, as we finally see full recognition for the value our facility provides in the context of environmental sustainability and greenhouse gas reductions. This allows us to expand on future feedstock opportunities and to offer reliable disposal options for organic waste in the region for decades to come.”
FortisBC began receiving its first supply of biogas from a local dairy farm, Fraser Valley Biogas, in 2011. Since then, new suppliers have ranged from wastewater treatment facilities to energy and agricultural companies to municipalities, all in support of the utility’s commitment to make 15% of its total system supply carbon neutral by 2030.