Canadian petroleum refiner Imperial has announced its plans to invest $560m to construct the largest renewable diesel facility in Canada, at Edmonton, Alberta.
The facility to be built at Imperial’s Strathcona refinery is expected to generate more than one billion litre of renewable diesel annually from feedstock sourced locally.
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Renewable diesel can reduce carbon emissions in the transportation sector by around three million metric tonnes annually compared with conventional fuels, in line with the country’s Clean Fuel Regulation.
Imperial chairman, president and CEO Brad Corson said: “Imperial supports Canada’s vision for a lower-emission future, and we are making strategic investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our own operations and to help customers in vital sectors of the economy reduce their emissions.
“The investment at our Strathcona refinery will deliver immediate benefits to the local economy creating jobs and contributing to a lower-emission energy future for our employees, neighbours and communities.”
The 20,000-barrel-per-day facility will use low-carbon hydrogen to help Canada meet low-emission fuel standards.
Imperial has signed an agreement with Air Products for the supply of low-carbon hydrogen.
In addition, Imperial is developing agreements with other third parties for bio feedstock supply.
The low-carbon hydrogen and bio feedstock can be blended with a proprietary catalyst to generate lower-emission diesel fuel to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
British Columbia will get a significant quota of the renewable fuel produced at the Strathcona facility in support of its initiative to cut down carbon emissions.
Imperial also intends to use renewable fuel in its operations to cut down emissions.
Work on the site preparation and initial construction are underway. The regulatory approval for the project is expected to be received in the near term.
Production of renewable diesel from the plant is scheduled to begin in 2025.
The project is expected to create about 600 direct construction jobs.
