Renewable natural gas project between Gaz Métro and Saint-Hyacinthe given go-ahead
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Project to give customers clean, renewable energy, company said
MONTRÉAL—In a ruling welcomed by Gaz Métro and the City of Saint-Hyacinthe, the Régie de l’énergie du Québec has authorized the utility company to purchase the renewable natural gas produced by the city and build the infrastructure required to connect the output to its distribution network. Once the work is complete, up to 13 million cubic metres per year of RNG will be produced by the municipality – most of which will then be injected into Gaz Métro’s network. The initiative will give Québec natural gas consumers access to clean, renewable and locally produced energy, Gaz Métro said.
Tapping into the potential of waste recovery can turn it into a strategic asset, one that generates savings while reducing the collective environmental footprint, the company added.
“By allowing Gaz Métro to fully assume its role as a Québec distributor of natural gas (including renewable natural gas), the ruling has significantly advanced development of the biomethanation process province-wide,” Martin Imbleau, vice-president of development and renewable energies at Gaz Métro, said in a statement. “This joint initiative with Saint-Hyacinthe opens the door to new projects that absolutely must be developed further in Québec. At a time when fighting climate change is critical, developing renewable energy resources lets us diversify our energy mix and contributes directly to meeting our greenhouse gas emission targets.”
The project will make Saint-Hyacinthe Québec’s first municipality to recycle organic waste through anaerobic digestion and use the resulting RNG to meet its energy needs. Under the agreement, injection of the renewable natural gas into Gaz Métro’s distribution network should start in 2017 and continue for the next 20 years. The ruling opens a potential commercial outlet for all RNG producers located near the gas network, which serves over 300 municipalities province-wide.
In Saint-Hyacinthe, organic waste from household and local business brown bin programs in 23 local municipalities will ultimately fuel the first municipal fleet powered by RNG, Gaz Métro said.
