Ottawa pours $6.2M more into potential Manitoba aviation fuel plant

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This article was published 17/01/2024 (640 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The federal government has added more fuel to a proposed Portage la Prairie production facility.

Ottawa will spend a further $6.2 million on front-end engineering and design studies for a potential sustainable aviation fuel production site. In December, the governments of Canada and Manitoba announced they’d spend $2.9 million to fund such studies.

On Wednesday, federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson called the latest funding “significant.”

Azure Sustainable Fuels Corp. is conducting the studies before making a final investment decision on building a crop-conversion plant west of the south-central Manitoba city.

The plant could turn feedstock products like canola and soybean oils to airplane fuel.

“Azure’s plan is, once they move through this, they obviously have to make a decision to invest in the construction of a plant, but the idea would be to be in a position to be producing sustainable aviation fuel by 2027,” Wilkinson said.

Azure chief executive officer Douglas Cole said in a statement a sustainable aviation fuel plant built in Canada would be “a win-win-win for all Canadians, its agricultural industry and its aviation industry.”

“(Fuel) from our facility reduces emissions by up to 80 per cent, creates long-term stable demand for Canadian agriculture products that are currently exported and supports the airline industry in reaching their climate goals,” he said.

Azure’s end product would benefit from being produced in Manitoba, because not only do local farmers produce large amounts of canola and soybeans, but the way the province produces electricity through generating stations on rivers helps, as well, Wilkinson said.

“The access to clean power on the Manitoba Hydro grid is a big advantage because, at the end of the day, Azure and other companies are going to have to account for the carbon embedded in the final product they actually produce.”

The benefits to Manitoba would be massive, he added.

“It would generate enormous economic activity — $2 billion in Manitoba’s economy… It would create 1,500 jobs during the construction phase and then over 150 jobs on an ongoing basis. It would be a big benefit for Manitoba and for Portage.”

A majority of the money announced Wednesday — $5 million — comes from Ottawa’s Clean Fuels Fund. The fund was established in 2021 to grow Canada’s production of clean fuels, including hydrogen and biofuels.

The Canada Infrastructure Bank is financing the other $1.2 million.

Roughly two years ago, Azure approached Portage la Prairie’s elected officials with the idea for a facility, the municipality’s reeve told the Free Press in December.

— with files from Gabrielle Piché

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca