Énergir is embarking on the production of renewable natural gas (RNG) by becoming a partner of Nature Energy, a Danish biogas giant recently acquired by Shell. The agreement will lead to the construction of 10 mega-plants totaling an investment of one billion dollars to produce up to 200 million cubic meters of RNG annually.
This production alone should provide the third of the GNR necessary for Énergir to meet Quebec standards for 2030, indicates Éric Lachance, CEO of the former Gaz Métro. The projects would reduce CO emissions2 of a maximum of 400,000 tons, according to the company.
Biomethanation plants use technologies which, thanks to anaerobic digestion, make it possible to treat agricultural residues such as slurry in order to extract methane. These will be built “in regions where there will be a high density of agricultural potential. These are big factories,” says Éric Lachance. He estimates the average annual production of each facility at 20 million cubic meters, the equivalent of what is needed to heat nearly 15,000 homes.
The shares of the projects developed both in terms of investments and revenues would be separated between Énergir and Nature Energy at 40% and 60% respectively. Farmers in the targeted regions could become partners up to 20%, a share that would be subtracted from the participation of the two companies.
This model is based on the one deployed by Nature Energy in Europe, where farmers generally own between 10% and 20% of the projects.
The partnership is explained by the fact that part of the treated materials returns to farmers in the form of digestate, a material composed of nutrients which replaces chemical fertilizers in agriculture.
“The agricultural sector is a complex sector that must be brought together and which is under-exploited with regard to the RNG sector. We really think that we can accelerate the development of the sector,” says Éric Lachance, maintaining that with the agreement, “we are better managing this development.”
The projects will certainly be able to count on the support of the Quebec government. In its strategy to develop the bioenergy sector, published in the spring, Quebec plans to invest 950 million in bioenergy by 2026, including those produced from agricultural residues.
But above all, for Énergir, the partnership will ensure a third of the RNG supply required by 2030. Remember that a Quebec regulation implemented in 2019 requires gas distributors to deliver 5% of their volumes in GNR for the financial year beginning in October 2025, and 10% for the financial year beginning in October 2030.
“The RNG sector is the foundation of our decarbonization strategy, notes Éric Lachance. By becoming a partner in production assets, we are led to diversify our activities, which provides us with new sources of income. »
For more than a year, Nature Energy has been actively studying a dozen potential sites in the province. The company, which set up its first biogas plant in 2015, relied on a peculiarity of Denmark to ensure its development: the country has one of the highest livestock densities in the world. There are more than 13 million pigs there for 5.8 million citizens; in Quebec, about 7 million pigs are raised for a population of nearly 8.5 million.
“It’s our biggest investment outside of Denmark,” says Ole Hvelplund, CEO of Nature Energy, arguing that it’s “a perfect match” that could eventually lead to the construction of more RNG production sites. Like the business and financing model, the infrastructures will be similar to those of Europe in terms of production: “We will make some changes to respond to Quebec’s particularities, but, for the most part, we are replicating a model that we have standardized in Denmark. »
The agricultural sector is a complex sector that must be brought together and which is under-exploited with regard to the RNG sector. We really think that we can accelerate the development of the sector.
In a previous interview with To have to, Nature Energy claimed to want to open a dozen factories each year by 2025, on a global scale. Already, it annually transforms more than 4.4 million tons of organic waste into 158 million cubic meters of biomethane.
Nature Energy has already announced the construction of a biomethanization plant in Farnham, in the Eastern Townships. This must transform 600,000 tons of organic waste annually to produce 20 million cubic meters of biomethane. An initiative of the same size and capacity is also planned in Louiseville, Mauricie.
The Danish company announced at the end of November that it had reached an agreement under which Shell would acquire 100% of the Company for a value of nearly two billion US dollars.