EverGen acquires renewable natural gas producer Fraser Valley Biogas

EverGen has acquired Fraser Valley Biogas Ltd. in Abbotsford, B.C.

In operation since 2011, Fraser Valley Biogas was the first producing renewable natural gas (RNG) project in Western Canada and the first project to produce RNG into FortisBC’s network.

The facility combines anaerobic digestion and biogas upgrading to produce RNG. The RNG is produced mainly by converting agricultural waste from local dairy farms. The acquisition makes Fraser Valley Biogas a wholly owned subsidiary of EverGen, Canada’s RNG infrastructure platform.

FortisBC operates the interconnection facility at Fraser Valley Biogas, monitoring gas quality and connecting this source of RNG to its customers. More than 80,000 gigajoules of RNG are produced annually at the facility – enough to heat about 1,000 homes for a year. EverGen plans to expand and enhance the project, with designs on boosting RNG production to more than 125,000 gigajoules per year – an increase of about 50 per cent.

“There is a significant gap in renewable infrastructure across Canada, and EverGen’s aim is to remedy that,” EverGen co-founder and CEO Chase Edgelow, said. “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.”

Fraser Valley Biogas also produces an organic liquid fertilizer for use on surrounding farms as a byproduct of these operations. Some 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 said. “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 could lead to operational synergies with EverGen’s existing projects, including Net Zero Waste Abbotsford Inc. in Abbotsford, and Sea to Sky Soils in Pemberton, B.C. Both facilities accept municipal organic waste and recycle it using composting technology into soil amendments and Class A compost for use by local farms and developers as part of the circular economy.