City of PG looks to excrete money from wastewater

$12.9 million is going towards a Renewable Natural Gas Plant in Prince George.

This was discussed during last night’s (Monday) City Council meeting, and the new facility will take gas produced from the Lansdowne Wastewater Treatment Plant and turn it into a useable resource.

$9.4 million of the project is being funded by grants, and $3.5 million will come from the City’s Sewer Capital Expenditure Reserve Fund.

Director of Civic Operations Blake McIntosh said that Fortis BC gave them an estimate on how much they’d buy the biogas for, and was even willing to take on the project themselves.

“And they were willing to step to the plate and possibly even fund the project, but with that, if they were to fund the project then we would get no revenue out of it, they would just take the gas.”

Fortis BC estimated that standard natural gas is valued at $10 per gigajoule in the current market, but renewable natural gas is valued between $30-$35 per gigajoule.

Currently the treatment plant creates an average of 3000 cubic metres of biogas per day, with 1800 cubic metres being used by the facility, with the rest being flared off.

“The benefit from this is that the gas that is currently being flared would actually go to beneficial use. So instead of it literally going up in smoke, half the gas that we produce, it would actually go through a process that would be used in homes and businesses throughout the community,” added McIntosh.

It was estimated by Fortis BC that the City would gain a potential revenue between $400,000 and $800,000 per year to cover costs for the project, as well as operational costs.

It was also noted that 73.33% of the project will be covered by the CleanBC Community Fund, the due date for applications is on May 25th, with Federal approval slated for late summer next year.

The City estimated that it will take 10 years to recover the City’s portion of the cost for this project.