A provincial grant will assist in the development of a feasibility study for a proposed $65-million bio-energy facility near Vegreville. More than $263,000 in grant funding has been approved to examine the business potential of a canola crush and bio-diesel business development project.

The proposed Biostreet Canada facility is a 175-million litre biodiesel plant located outside of Vegreville. The primary feedstock for the plant would be canola, a major crop in the area. Up to 375,000 tonnes of canola would be processed by the facility per year. The proposed plan includes building a canola crush facility on site to supply canola meal to the local livestock sector and oil to the plant.
“Investment in rural Alberta bio-energy projects prove that value-added opportunities exist everywhere in the province,” said Premier Ed Stelmach, MLA for Vegreville-Fort Saskatchewan, “This government’s bio-energy strategy will create new investment, new jobs and new economic opportunities for Albertans.”

The funding was allocated through the Biorefining Commercialization and Market Development Program and the Bio-energy Infrastructure Development Program. Both grant programs are part of the Alberta government’s $239-million Nine-Point Bio-energy Plan designed to encourage the growth of a clean, renewable fuel industry in Alberta.

“These grants will increase investment in bio-energy in Alberta and offset some of the start-up costs companies may face. They are a great help to establishing bio-energy as a new piece of our energy portfolio,” said Mel Knight, Minister of Energy.

The grants also support product development, market research, and feasibility studies to assist bio-refiners in adopting new technologies and meeting market requirements.

More information on Alberta’s bio-energy industry and the grant programs is available on the Alberta Energy website at www.energy.gov.ab.ca under the Our Business section.

Developing Alberta’s bio-energy portfolio is part of Premier Stelmach's plan to secure Alberta’s future by building communities, greening our growth and creating opportunity.

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