It has been a while since the blog has an update on how Enerkem has been doing. This month, Enerkem, with a group of strategic partners, that include major investor Shell, along with Suncor and Proman, Hydro-Québec supplying green hydrogen and oxygen, and with the support of the Québec and Canadian governments, announced a plan to construct a biofuel facility called Varennes Carbon Recycling (VCR) to be located in Varennes, in the Greater Montréal area, which will produce biofuels and renewable chemicals made from non-recyclable residual materials as well as wood waste.

The plant will leverage green hydrogen and oxygen produced through an 87-megawatt electrolyzer, transforming Quebec’s excess hydroelectricity capacity into value-added biofuels and renewable chemicals. Enerkem’s proprietary thermochemical process enables the conversion of this carbon into biofuels and renewable chemicals, made from methanol, which is the project’s intermediary product.

The planned facility will convert more than 200,000 tons of non-recyclable waste and wood waste into an annual production of nearly 125 million litres of biofuels. The partners have already invested $60 million since August 2019 to develop the project, prepare the site and obtain the required permits. The proposed partnership is subject to finalization of commercial agreements.  Total investment for the new facility is estimated at more than CAD$875 million.

Enerkem is currently operating a full-scale commercial facility in Edmonton, Alberta, producing methanol from municipal waste. Enerkem also currently has an innovation centre in Québec.