On Monday night, Prince George city council will consider a proposal to build a renewable natural gas plant at the Lansdowne Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The estimated budget for the project is $12.9 million, and the city would apply for $9.4 million grant from the federal Clean BC Communities Fund. If the grant application is successful, the remaining $3.5 million would be funded by the city’s sewer capital reserve, city director of civic operations Blake McIntosh wrote in a report going before council on Monday.
“The wastewater treatment plant currently produces an average of 3,000 cubic meters of biogas per day. Under current operating conditions, 1,800 cubic meters is used by the WWTC with the remaining gas being flared,” McIntosh wrote. “Fortis BC has approached the City of Prince George and is interested in purchasing the biogas and converting it into renewable natural gas (RNG). The sale of RNG provides a potential revenue of between $400,000 and $800,000 per year to recover the city’s portion of the costs and offset the WWTC operational costs.”
While standard natural gas, a fossil fuel, sells for roughly $10 a gigajoule currently, renewable natural gas sells for $30 to $35 per gigajoule, McIntosh wrote.
The renewable natural gas plant would capture and condition the gas the city is currently flaring off at the sewage plant, for sale to Fortis BC.
The deadline for the city to apply for the federal grant is May 25, with final approvals expected to happen by the summer of 2023. The project would only go ahead if the federal grant is received, McIntosh wrote.
All projects would have to be completed by March 31, 2027 to qualify for the grants.
“The potential revenue from the operation of the RNG facility will provide cost recovery as well as provide future revenue which will be allocated towards the sewer reserve fund,” McIntosh wrote.
