The Quebec natural gas distributor Énergir will soon build a station to inject gas from renewable sources from producers who, too far from the network, cannot sell their production. The 17.1 million bill for the project will be paid 85% by the government of Quebec.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
Énergir confirms The Press that it will shortly build a gas injection station in Saint-Flavien, in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, between the cities of Trois-Rivières and Quebec. The new installations will make it possible to inject renewable natural gas (RNG) into the Énergir network from producers currently too far from distribution facilities to connect to them.
“There is quite interesting potential in terms of agricultural RNG, but also gas production from forest biomass,” explains Clément Bekaert, director of RNG supply and development at Énergir.
However, often the production of this type of RNG is located far from the gas network, continues Mr. Bekaert, specifying that “there is a limit to transporting solid materials, inputs such as manure, slurry, wood” towards factories that can extract the gas.
“The other option to get volume is to transport the gas to this station,” he says. GNR can be compressed or liquefied to facilitate transport by truck from the production site to the Saint-Flavien facility.
GNR or GSR?
Renewable natural gas (RNG) refers to gases produced with organic materials, such as those coming from table waste or agricultural and forestry residues. We use the term gas from renewable sources (GSR) when we include gases from renewable energies such as green hydrogen. GSR’s share in the Énergir and Gazieuse gas networks must represent in 2030 a minimum of 10% of the gas volumes found there.
Quebec will pay 85% of the $17.1 million bill for this project of strategic importance for Énergir. The Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy will provide a grant (14.8 million) as part of this project. “It takes a helping hand from the government for emerging sectors,” underlines Clément Bekaert.
The remaining sum should be shared between Énergir and the producers, he adds, arguing that “the form is not yet established”.
Three producers are currently participating in the initiative. The Mixed Economy of Renewable Energy Company (SEMER), near Rivière-du-Loup, and the company Carbonaxion, which has a project in Neuville, will transport liquid renewable gas there.
A third producer, BioÉnertek, plans to inject compressed renewable gas produced in Sainte-Sophie-de-Lévrard, in Center-du-Québec.
Commissioning is planned for the first months of 2026, at the latest. The station will be located a stone’s throw from the gas reservoirs of its subsidiary Intragaz, in Saint-Flavien. The storage capacity is significant, underlines Clément Bekaert: “We could in fact possibly inject the production of 10, 15 or 20 projects there. »
Roll up your sleeves
The construction of the station comes at a time when the Quebec gas distributor must roll up its sleeves to achieve the objectives that the Quebec government has set for it: the GSR must represent at least 10% of what its gas network transports over the next year. 2030.
GSR currently represents 2% of what is in its network. And only 20% of this volume comes from the nine Quebec GSR projects that have a commitment with Énergir.
The challenge is all the greater for Énergir since its largest partner, the Danish biomethanization giant Nature Energy, owned by Shell – which was planning 10 plants to supply a third of the renewable natural gas needed by Énergir – has turned back to Quebec this fall without having finalized an installation.
The partnership between Énergir and Nature Energy alone should make it possible to produce 200 million cubic meters of RNG, or a third of the 2030 objective. “Having a big player like that withdrawing, this is not good news. We’re not going to hide it,” says Clément Bekaert.
Énergir was counting on these major projects to achieve its objectives, he admits. “But there are other players who are there, with smaller project sizes. »
