A biogas plant that has been on the drawing board for more than six years may receive final regulatory approval this fall so that construction can start later in the year.
ECB Enviro North America Inc. plans to build a plant near Lethbridge to use agricultural waste and byproducts to produce gas capable of generating 3.2 megawatts of electricity and the equivalent of 3.8 megawatts of power using thermal energy, said company spokesperson Thane Hurlburt.
The concept has received the go ahead from Lethbridge County and the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board with further approval expected from Alberta Environment. Hurlburt said approvals have been slow partly because the idea is so new.
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“They can’t open their manual to bio-cogeneration because they haven’t approved any before,” he said.
The company is owned by Alberta shareholders who started investigating bioenergy in Europe in 2001.
Besides biodigesting manure and byproducts from the food processing industry to generate power, the company wants a Canadian Food Inspection Agency licence to dispose of specific risk materials (SRMs), which are linked to the spread of BSE.
The plant would use thermal hydrolysis, an approved technique using high pressure and heat, to break down the SRMs. Biogas would be removed and the resulting byproducts could be spread on soil.
“Our intent is to become an SRM destruction facility,” he said.
