Two projects tap into SDTC'S biofuels program but most funds to remain unspent

Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) has finally tapped into a $500-million envelope for building large-scale biofuels demonstration plants but the bulk of the available funding will go unspent as the fund winds down in 2017 after 10 years. The Next Generation Biofuels Fund (NGBF) provided $91 million to support two projects as part of SDTC's latest announcement of $206 million for 36 projects.

One project will see Enerkem Alberta Biofuels build a plant for converting Edmonton garbage into biomethanol. The second, led by AE Cote Nord (a joint venture between Ensyn Technologies and Arbec Forest Products), will produce a cellulosic liquid fuel produced from wood residue.

Unallocated monies were first returned to Natural Resources Canada in FY12-13, leaving only the money that was awarded to the two new projects.

"We're in discussions with NRCan (but) the rest of the money will be returned ... The new government wants to elevate bigger projects ... 2017 will be the year for a more thoughtful approach for new programs," says SDTC president and CEO Leah Lawrence. "We discovered that it's hard to build commercial scale plants although we now have two projects that are of commercial scale. They're complex and require a lot of money."

SDTC also awarded funding through its SD Tech Fund to 32 other projects, which was recapitalized with $325 million in the 2013 Budget (R$, April 3/13). Another two were funded through the SD Natural Gas Fund, a public-private partnership between SDTC and the Canadian Gas Association.

SDTC has yet to announce the amounts awarded to the successful projects but some project awards have been made public. Vancouver's General Fusion received $12.75 million to design a full-scale fusion energy demonstration system, while Loop Energy (also Vancouver), received $7.5 million to deploy a zero-emission powertrain for heavy trucks.

Lawrence says once an initial approval is made, it's followed by payments made on a go-forward basis over a five-to-six year period. The awards mean the money in the SD Tech Fund is largely depleted. "We'll have a recapitalization request in the next Budget and then in 2017," says Lawrence.

R$