Representatives of the federal government were in Thorold on March 8th to announce a $15-million investment in clean energy and technology business in our area. The funding will promote clean fuels while creating employment, build more investments, and hopefully bring more clean energy and technology businesses to Thorold and the surrounding areas in the Niagara Region.
The photo was retrieved from the Facebook page of Vance Badawey, Member of Parliament Niagara Centre with the group attending the presentation at the the Niagara Ports Multimodal Hub in Thorold.
MEDIA RELEASE
Canadians and businesses use fuel every day — to produce and transport goods and to get from place to place. These fuels, like gasoline and diesel, help power our economy, but their extraction and combustion represent a significant source of pollution in Canada. In the global race to net zero, countries and businesses around the world are making a shift to lower- and non-emitting fuels, and the federal government is positioning Canada as a leading producer of these fuels.
Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, announced in Thorold, Ontario, a federal investment of $15 million to support six clean fuels projects across Canada, including $10 million for two projects in the Niagara region. The federal investments include:
· $4.6 million to StormFisher Hydrogen to support a front-end engineering (FEED) study for a renewable natural gas (RNG) production facility at BMI’s Multimodal Hub in Thorold, Ontario.
o If this study leads to a positive investment decision, the project could support over 100 construction jobs and around 30 full-time jobs during operations in Thorold, Ontario.
o Upon the completion of the FEED study in the summer of 2025 and construction of the planned $200-million low-carbon fuel production facility in 2027, StormFisher Hydrogen will combine renewable electricity from Ontario’s clean grid along with biogenic CO2 emissions from local industry to produce 1, 250,000 gigajoules of RNG and decarbonize16,000 homes and businesses in Ontario.
o The project will support the decarbonization of the Canadian natural gas system and anchor an innovative hydrogen hub in Thorold that will help attract other clean energy and technology businesses to the Niagara region.
· Over $5 million to CHAR Technologies to support FEED studies that will enable CHAR to replicate their first-of-its-kind woody-biomass-to-renewable-energy facility in Thorold, Ontario in other parts of Canada.
o Supported by an existing investment of $5 million from NRCan, CHAR is finalizing its construction of its clean fuels production facility at BMI’s Multimodal Hub in Thorold, which will convert woody biomass to renewable energy like RNG and biocarbon. The new NRCan funding announced today will enable CHAR Technologies to replicate this work at four new facilities in Kirkland Lake, Ontario; Drayton Valley, Alberta; and Saint Félicien and La Sarre, Quebec, and create a distributed network of low-carbon fuels production facilities across three provinces in Canada.
o Taken together, the Thorold, Ontario, project — which is expected to reach commercial production this year — and the four other clean fuel production facilities in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Quebec; and Alberta – which are expected to come online in the following two years — will maximize the value of underutilized waste wood resources and help decarbonize Canada’s steel and mining industries, and Canadian gas utilities.
“Today’s announcement proves yet again that our community can lead, and benefit from, the new economic opportunities that come from fighting climate change. This funding will help advance clean fuels while supporting new jobs, attracting more investments, and bringing more clean energy and technology businesses to our region. This investment exhibits the government’s commitment to strengthen the economy in Niagara Centre and its confidence in the Niagara Ports Multimodal Trade Corridor.”
Vance Badawey
Member of Parliament, Niagara Centre
· $5 million to support Azure Sustainable Fuels Corp. in delivering a FEED study to support the construction and operation of a sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) production facility in Port Colborne, Ontario.
o If the project reaches a positive Final Investment Decision (FID), following the completion of the FEED study, it is expected that the Azure’s SAF project would support approximately 1,500 construction jobs and 150 full time jobs during operations in Port Colborne, Ontario.
o The FEED study is expected to be completed in by the end of 2024 and the construction of the planned facility would be commenced immediately following a positive FID. The proposed project will be located on the north end of Port Colborne, Ontario, along the Welland Canal — a strategic location that will provide immediate access to local and global markets.
o The planned processing facility in Port Colborne will leverage Canada’s agricultural sector to produce SAF that will meet the growing demand to help reduce emissions from the aviation sector. Azure’s proposed project in Port Colbourne is one of three projects that Azure is progressing in Canada, with support from the federal government, to provide a scalable growth platform to provide a significant source of SAF required to meet domestic and international mandates to reduce CO2 emissions.
We are leveraging Canada’s innovative clean tech companies and abundant range of feedstocks — including forest byproducts, agricultural crops and our low-emitting electricity grid — to grow Canada’s domestic production of clean fuels across the economy. In so doing, we are supporting the decarbonization and competitiveness of heavy industry such as steel manufacturers, mining operations and pulp mills, and will generate economic opportunities through exports and direct foreign investment for farmers, businesses, workers and more.
These ongoing efforts and today’s investments will grow Canada’s clean fuels market and help position Canada as a reliable producer and supplier of the low-carbon fuels that Canadians and the world want and need. They are also important to the growth of Canada’s clean fuels industry in helping to keep pace with the global demand to act on climate change while bolstering energy security and delivering affordability.