Failing to inject enough renewable natural gas (RNG) into its network, Énergir misses the regulatory threshold which establishes the share of gas consumed that GNR must represent at 1%, noted The duty. For its part, Gazifère reached this target of pain and misery by buying the precious molecules at a high price.
Documents filed with the Régie de l’énergie detail Énergir’s difficulties in obtaining supplies of renewable natural gas, produced from the decomposition of organic matter. The company declares that at the beginning of the year, it “was confident of reaching or approaching regulatory target. This is established at 60.21 Mm3which represents 1% of the total volume of gas injected into the network.
However, “in recent months”, the largest Quebec distributor concedes having “noted significant differences between its projection and the volumes actually delivered”. The former Gaz Métro therefore had to revise the place of GNR in its network downwards.
The nine GNR supply contracts signed by Énergir will have made it possible to inject 38.671 Mm3, which represents only 64% of the regulatory volume required for 2022. More simply, the GNR would currently only represent 0, 6% of all the molecules transported in the network.
What’s more, customers did not rush to Énergir’s doors to have it delivered. The volume of GNR delivered actually represents only 44% of the volume required, according to data from the distributor. let’s remember that The duty had already noted the distributor’s difficulties in finding takers for GNR this spring.
A failure ? ” No way ! In fact, although the percentage has not been reached, a total of 1.2% of volumes is already secured for the year 2022-2023. [qui débutait en octobre] “replies an Énergir spokesperson by email. By October 2024, the company estimates that the volumes distributed will total 142 Mm3, or 2.4% of volumes, and that it will reach 5% of volumes the following year.
We are working on being able to put in place a system that will be functional in the long term and that will ensure the volumes [de GNR] at prices that are reasonable
“The volumes will come, on the one hand, from certain Quebec projects currently in development or under construction and, on the other hand, from volumes contracted by call for tenders last year, currently awaiting approval from the Régie” , we say, recalling that the Quebec GNR sector is “new and emerging”.
“We keep in mind that RNG projects have a development and construction cycle that can extend from 2 to 5 years, depending on the project. […] It is therefore not by snapping our fingers that we can increase the GNR volumes in the network”, we add.
Regarding demand, Énergir says it is seeing growing interest: “First of all, you have to understand that we started marketing RNG last May. Beforehand, we wanted to build an inventory before we could offer it to our customers. »
Short-term markets for Gazifère
Gazifère, for its part, managed with difficulty to reach the 1% objective. The completion of a major project to supply its network with RNG has been delayed, explains Jean-Benoit Trahan, president of the distributor whose 1,000-kilometre network serves more than 43,000 customers in the Outaouais.
“The producer should have started delivering this year, but there have been delays in production due to problems in the supply chain and the arrival of certain parts. It should have started producing towards the end of 2022, but it’s been pushed back to 2023,” he says.
Result: the distributor – which belongs to the Albertan Enbridge – had to turn to the short-term markets, buying GNR from California. However, on the short-term markets, prices are higher; they have in fact almost doubled since 2020. “We had proposals that ranged between $30 and $60 per gigajoule,” he says. By way of comparison, the price of traditional natural gas revolves around8dollars.
“But if the short-term markets are more expensive, they allow Gazifère not to sign contracts that would be [sur le plan des prix] unreasonable, just to achieve the goals,” he adds.
Especially since Gazifère has a long-term contract with a producer which should allow it to secure its supply within a few months: “We are working to be able to put in place a system that will be functional over the long term. and who will ensure the volumes [de GNR] at prices that are reasonable. Until then, what we are doing is using the short-term markets to offset demand. »
Since 2019, the Regulation respecting the quantity of renewable natural gas to be delivered by a distributor requires gas distributors to deliver 5% of their volumes in RNG for the fiscal year beginning in October 2025, and 10% for the fiscal year beginning in October 2030. In the fall of 2020, the government of François Legault reiterated its desire to achieve its objectives in its Plan for a Green Economy.