The West Kootenay Village of Fruitvale will be the site of a new state-of-the-art natural gas facility.

FortisBC is partnering with REN Energy International Corporation (REN Energy) to create Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) from wood waste sourced from Fruitvale香蕉视频直播檚 ATCO Wood Products and other Kootenay forestry companies.

香蕉视频直播淭he Village of Fruitvale is beyond excited,香蕉视频直播� said Fruitvale mayor Steve Morissette. 香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 a once in a lifetime thing, it doesn香蕉视频直播檛 happen in small communities very often. It will offer good paying jobs and there香蕉视频直播檒l be plant operators, process operators, and typically fork lift drivers, and wood managers.香蕉视频直播�

The proposed site for the facility is at the old Park Siding ATCO mill about 6 km from Fruitvale in southeastern BC. The project will offer about 18 months of construction jobs and, once construction is complete, the plant will employ 30-35 local workers.

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According to FortisBC Supply Manager Scott Gramm, Fortis will buy the gas generated by the facility and tap into its pipeline that runs near the Park Siding property.

香蕉视频直播淩EN Energy chose that location because it was a source of wood waste and close to our pipeline at the same time,香蕉视频直播� said Gramm. 香蕉视频直播淲e香蕉视频直播檙e talking like 300-metres from our transmission pipeline, it香蕉视频直播檚 nice and close - so acceptable wood waste, acceptable pipeline.香蕉视频直播�

REN Energy is a global company whose goal is to reduce waste and improve the environment through the development of sustainable, clean fuel-based projects. REN seeks out opportunities to create partnerships with municipalities like Fruitvale and regional districts, forestry industry operators like ATCO, and financial partners like FortisBC to create essentially zero-emission energy products like RNG.

香蕉视频直播淭he plant, the first of its kind in North America, will create an immediate annual economic impact in the Kootenay region,香蕉视频直播� said Philip Viggiani, president of REN Energy in a release. 香蕉视频直播淎s well, our future waste-to-energy project regions will carry similar economic impacts in regard to the creation of hundreds of direct and indirect jobs, significant in-community investments and, of course, the clean energy product we create.香蕉视频直播�

RNG is a carbon-neutral energy that is made from capturing the methane released from decomposing organic waste.

The project will make use of waste from forestry operations, sawmills and other wood product manufacturers and will speed up the natural process by creating syngas through gasification. The syngas is further converted to methane and then purified to meet natural gas line specifications.

The output is expected to be substantial, and FortisBC estimates over one million gigajoules of energy will be created annually from the facility.

香蕉视频直播淭he average household uses about 90-ish,香蕉视频直播� explained Gramm. 香蕉视频直播淪o we香蕉视频直播檙e talking enough gas to sustain 10,000 to 12,000 homes annually.香蕉视频直播�

The construction on the facility will begin in the fall, and is expected to be up and running in late 2021, early 2022, says Gramm.

Once operational, the technology will create a use for forestry waste in B.C. and unlock the potential for significant new volumes of RNG in the province.

香蕉视频直播淲e are extremely pleased with our FortisBC agreement spanning 20 years, to provide RNG to our fellow B.C. customers,香蕉视频直播� said Viggiani. 香蕉视频直播淩EN Energy plans to be a major factor in assisting with the FortisBC mandate of creating carbon-neutral RNG.香蕉视频直播�

When economically feasible, REN Energy intends to benefit both the province and the forestry industry by cleaning up and processing brush piles, and thereby mitigate potential forest fires.

Furthermore, the REN facility will create a market for local forest companies in a time when they need it most.

香蕉视频直播淚t will for sure help our forest industry,香蕉视频直播� said Morissette. 香蕉视频直播淚t will help ILMA - the Interior Lumber Manufacturers香蕉视频直播� Association - because they (REN) will be sourcing a lot of the waste wood from them.香蕉视频直播�

The ground-breaking project香蕉视频直播檚 use of carbon-neutral energies is a crucial element of FortisBC香蕉视频直播檚 30BY30 target.

The goal is to reduce customers香蕉视频直播� greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030. FortisBC is also working towards having 15 per cent of its natural gas supply be renewable by 2030, which is in line with commitments outlined in the Province香蕉视频直播檚 CleanBC promise 30-30.

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