Федеральное правительство Канады выделило почти 19 млн долларов на расширение крупнейшего в стране биогазового завода в Лондоне

London biogas facility set for $70M expansion, with $18.7M assist from Ottawa A London anaerobic digestion and biogas facility in the city’s south end is undergoing a $70-million expansion, thanks in part to a contribution of nearly $19 million from Ottawa. Announced Monday by federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson was an $18.7-million investment from Natural Resources Canada’s Clean Fuels Fund into the Generate Upcycle facility, which is located on Green Valley Road south of Highway 401. “This facility, the London digester, is the largest food waste anaerobic digestion facility in Canada,” Hodgson said. “With this investment, the facility will be able to turn more waste into low-carbon fuel and valuable agricultural products, helping us reduce greenhouse gas emissions, divert waste from landfills, and get the most from our resources.” Generate Upcycle is an organic waste processing company based in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. London is one of its two facilities in Canada, the other being nearby in Drumbo, which pre-processes and prepares municipally sourced food waste from curbside composting before shipping it to London. Their London facility, running since 2012, takes in food waste from major processors, distributors and manufacturers, as well as the already-prepared material from Drumbo, and turns it into both fertilizer for Southwestern Ontario farms and renewable natural gas. The $70-million expansion to the London facility is broken up into two phases, according to the company. The first phase, already completed in spring 2024, expanded the biogas upgrading system and tripled the production capacity for renewable natural gas. The second phase is already underway and expected to be complete early next year, expanding its receiving and digestion infrastructure. Hodgson, joined by London Liberal MPs Peter Fragiskatos and Arielle Kayabaga, said the expansion would allow for an additional 450,000 gigajoules of natural gas to be produced, for a total of 832,000 gigajoules – enough to heat more than 9,400 homes. The expansion would also allow for the production of an additional 86,000 tons of fertilizer. - Ottawa partnership aims to grow Canadian supply chain: London defence firm - $2B General Dynamics deal means growth, not layoffs, for one London supplier - Advertisement 1Story continues below “This is what innovation in London looks like in action: growing Canada’s clean energy economy, strengthening domestic energy security, supporting good-paying Canadian jobs, and building climate competitiveness – all to position our nation as a clean energy superpower of the future,” Hodgson said. Bill Caesar, president and chief executive of Generate Upcycle, said the financing of the London digester “serves as a great example” of how government, industry, and a local community can work together to deliver both economic and environmental impacts. “Clean energy resources are found all over Canada, they are not concentrated in a few fortunate regions. Every community produces organic waste, and every province is home to dynamic agricultural and food production,” he said. “This broad distribution of clean fuel assets means that technologies like anaerobic digestion . . . can underpin economic independence and energy security in every corner of Canada.” Ward 12 Coun. Elizabeth Peloza appeared on behalf of the mayor and city council, calling the announcement “worth celebrating” for London. “It’s an investment in London’s economy, and shows a growing leader in innovation, sustainability, and circular economy, and Generate Upcycle has been a vital part to that story,” she said. “Expanding the capacity of this facility through this monumental investment will help strengthen London’s national role in this sector (and) will be supporting local jobs, which cannot come at a more crucial time for our economy, both locally and in our region.”