EverGen announced it has acquired Fraser Valley Biogas Ltd. in Abbotsford, B.C.
Fraser Valley Biogas has been in operation since 2011 and is the original producing RNG project in Western Canada and first project to produce RNG into FortisBC’s network.
The facility combines anaerobic digestion and biogas upgrading to produce RNG, primarily by converting agricultural waste from local dairy farms. With this acquisition, Fraser Valley Biogas becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of EverGen.
FortisBC operates the interconnection facility at Fraser Valley Biogas, monitoring gas quality and connecting this source of Renewable Natural Gas to its customers. The facility currently produces over 80,000 gigajoules of RNG annually — enough to heat roughly 1,000 homes for a year. EverGen plans to expand and enhance the project, planning to boost RNG production to over 125,000 gigajoules per year — an increase of approximately 50 per cent.
“There is a significant gap in renewable infrastructure across Canada, and EverGen’s aim is to remedy that,” says EverGen co-founder and CEO Chase Edgelow. “Our acquisition of Fraser Valley Biogas is consistent with our focus on acquiring and building-out RNG and sustainable waste-to-energy projects. In the case of Fraser Valley Biogas, we’ll be enhancing and optimizing an existing RNG project to ensure it will be a reliable solution for organic waste and source of renewable energy well into the future.”
As a byproduct of these operations, Fraser Valley Biogas also produces an organic liquid fertilizer for use on surrounding farms. Some of these farms have been displacing synthetic fertilizer use for more than 10 years.
“This is a perfect illustration of what we mean when we talk about the ‘circular economy’ — by taking in agricultural waste from local dairy farms, we’re helping those farms reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions,” Edgelow explains. “In processing this waste into biogas, we create a nutrient-rich fertilizer that those same farmers can use to enhance the quality of their soils. Combating climate change while helping local communities become more sustainable is all part of EverGen’s vision.”
The acquisition of Fraser Valley Biogas opens the door to operational synergies with EverGen’s existing projects — Net Zero Waste Abbotsford Inc. also in Abbotsford, BC, and Sea to Sky Soils in Pemberton, BC. Both facilities accept municipal organic waste and recycle it using proven composting technology into soil amendments and Class A compost for use by local farms and developers as part of the circular economy.
