Construction has yet to begin on a large biofuel plant near Innisfail, Alta., but investors say the project is still a go.
Riverstone Holdings LLC, a New York private equity firm that has invested more than $8 billion US in the energy sector, announced in April 2007 it would build a $400 million biorefinery near Innisfail.
At the time, Dominion Energy, the engineering firm that is building the plant for Riverstone, said construction was scheduled to begin in July 2007 and would be completed in 12 to 16 months.
But a spokesperson for Red Deer County said all that has been done to date is a little preparatory road work.
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“I haven’t heard anything for quite a long while,” said Art Preachuk, agricultural services manager for the county.
Riverstone spokesperson Michael Freitag said there isn’t much to report.
“There really is no news. They’re still in the permitting process.”
Alberta Ethanol and Biodiesel Group Ltd., the Alberta legal entity that Dominion created to handle the project, has applied for a number of permits and received all but one.
“Accordingly, the construction timetable has been pushed back,” Freitag said.
He wouldn’t say what the missing permit is, but The Western Producer has learned it is a licence from the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board.
“We’re reviewing the application,” said Bob Curran, a spokesperson for the provincial regulator. He couldn’t estimate how long the approval process would take because it depends on many factors.
“It takes as long as it takes.”
Some ethanol and biofuel facilities fall under the domain of Alberta Environment while others apply to the Energy Resources Conservation Board.
An application can be approved, rejected or sent to a public hearing.
Freitag said it would be foolish to speculate on a new start date for construction because the permit matter is out of his hands. However, he said the project is still in play.
“I think (Alberta Ethanol and Biodiesel Group) expect (the permit) shortly and then at that point they would start moving forward.”
Prairie biofuel projects have been cancelled or delayed because of rising grain and oilseed prices, but Freitag said that is not the issue in this case. It is strictly a permit problem.
The size and scale of the plant remain intact. It will crush 380 million litres of canola and produce 380 million litres of ethanol and 380 million litres of biodiesel, making it Canada’s largest biofuel facility. It will consume one million tonnes of wheat and 800,000 tonnes of canola annually from a 250 kilometre radius.
The plant will employ 90 full-time people and create an additional 200 indirect jobs needed to service the facility, plus 400 temporary construction-related jobs.
