- EverGen owns and operates Western Canada’s original renewable natural gas facility and is expanding nationwide
- EverGen already has existing offtake agreements with FortisBC, part of the nation’s largest private utility
- EverGen recently signed a new loan agreement providing $31 million for expansion at its flagship projects in B.C.
Renewable Natural Gas, or RNG, is instrumental in meeting emissions targets by taking methane-producing organic feedstock like disposed food, sewage water, and animal waste and converting it into a carbon-neutral products, including an alternative to traditional natural gas. FortisBC Energy is a climate control steward in Western Canada, ramping supply agreements with companies such as EverGen Infrastructure (TSX.V: EVGN) (OTCQB: EVGIF) (https://ibn.fm/TIUfH) to keep up with demand from a waiting list of customers as part of a broader plan to see British Columbia reach net zero emissions by 2050.
EverGen is an emerging RNG supply leader and organics processor in Canada creating a cluster of facilities to leverage both the attractive organic feedstock tip fees and long-term RNG pricing available. EverGen’s first three owned and operated facilities – Net Zero Waste Abbotsford (“NZWA”), Sea to Sky Soils (“SSS”), Fraser Valley Biogas (“FVB”) – are in southern British Columbia, with the company expanding into Alberta and Ontario in 2022 to capitalize on new opportunities in strategic jurisdictions.
EverGen has long-term offtake agreements with FortisBC for the RNG produced at Net Zero Waste Abbottsford, GrowTEC, and Fraser Valley Biogas.
FortisBC Energy and FortisBC, units of Newfoundland-based Fortis Inc., Canada’s biggest private utility, showed in May to have helped their customers reduce pollution by about 578,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2021. That’s equivalent to a year’s worth of emissions from approximately 177,000 gasoline-powered cars. It was made possible by FortisBC increasing its RNG supply by 184% from 2020-2021.
FortisBC expects to triple supply again in 2022 to be approaching 4 petajoules of RNG supply contracted to keep feeding into its pipelines. The company estimates its contracted supply is enough to replace natural gas in approximately 43,750 homes in British Columbia.
EverGen has goals of its own, including estimates to generate $50-$60 million in revenue annually by achieving production of 2 million gigajoules per year of RNG. The pathway to reach these targets involves expansion projects in B.C., development projects in Alberta and Ontario, and additional target acquisitions.
Thanks to a new agreement, EverGen has $31 million to move forward. Earlier this month, EverGen signed a term sheet with its existing lender, Scotiabank subsidiary Roynat Capital, and Export Development Canada for a $31 million senior term loan to support the planned upgrade and construction work at FVB ($15 million) and NZWA ($16 million).
FVB, which is distinguished as the first producing RNG facility in Western Canada, combines anaerobic digestion and biogas upgrading to produce RNG, primarily by converting agricultural waste from local dairy farms. Expansion at the project is slated to begin this quarter and be completed in the first quarter of 2023, effectively doubling capacity and RNG production to approximately 120,000 gigajoules per year initially and then 160,000 gigajoules annually by mid-2023. A new offtake agreement, with existing partner FortisBC, is being finalized.
NZWA is an organic waste conversion facility that primarily processes inbound organics, yard waste and biosolids for a contracted tipping fee, and produces high-quality organic compost and soils for farmers, gardeners, and developers. The capital expansion will add anaerobic digestion capabilities to produce biogas, which will then be upgraded to RNG to feed into FortisBC’s gas network under an existing 20-year off-take agreement.
This project, expect to cost between $32-$35 million, has been in the works and experienced delays owning to the extensive flooding in the region last year compounded by regulatory delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Expectations are for groundbreaking to commence sometime in the next 12 months with a construction timeline of 6-8 months. Once complete, RNG output at NZWA is targeted at 180,000 gigajoules per year.
The new production will be added to RNG totals from eastern projects. EverGen has 67% ownership of GrowTEC, an operating farm-scale biogas facility near Lethbridge, Alberta that will be expanded from 80,000 gigajoules of RNG annually to 140,000 gigajoules. The production is already under contract to supply FortisBC.
That’s about 480,000 gigajoules annually from FVB, NZWA and GrowTEC.
EverGen also owns 50% of a three-facility project dubbed “Project Radius” in the lower, Great Lakes region of Ontario. These three projects are thought to be constructed throughout 2023 and 2024 and be some of the larger RNG facilities in the country, with each expected to produce at least 550,000 gigajoules of RNG per year for an aggregate of approximately 1.7 million gigajoules, or nearly 2.2 million gigajoules corporate-wide for EverGen.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.EvergenInfra.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to EVGIF are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/EVGIF
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