The Manitoba government has inked a deal to chip in $2.9 million toward a sustainable aviation fuel plant to be built in Portage la Prairie, it announced today.
“This is a cutting-edge project for Manitoba farmers and oilseed processors,” said Manitoba ag minister Ron Kostyshyn in a news release.
Calgary-based firm Azure Sustainable Fuels Corp. plans to use Canadian feedstock like soybean and canola oils to produce as much as one billion litres of renewable aviation fuel per year, the news release added.
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The province agreed to give $2.9 million over two years, via the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP), to Azure’s “Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study,” the news release said.
A FEED study is a planning step in which the technical specifications and early construction designs may be drawn up, and more detailed timelines and budgets may be estimated.
In June, then Manitoba premier Heather Stefanson and then federal ag minister Marie Claude Bibeau announced their governments would be providing $2.9 million toward the FEED study.
The facility is expected to cost $1.9 billion to build, a June 20 news release said. Once built, it’s expected to create 150 jobs, and add $2 billion in total impact to the Manitoba economy.
Construction is slated to begin in 2025, said Azure president and CEO Douglas Cole in a news conference today.
Sustainable aviation fuel is produced from renewable feedstock which, along with soybean and canola oil, can include industrial fats and agricultural or forestry residues, according to the Canadian Council for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (C-SAF). It can reduce emissions by up to 80 per cent over its lifecycle compared to traditional jet fuel, C-SAF added.
—Geralyn Wichers is associate digital editor of AGCanada.com. She writes from southeastern Manitoba.
