1414229 Ontario Inc. operating as Escarpment Renewables - Renewable energy approval

Escarpment Renewables owns and operates the Grimsby Anaerobic Digestion Site located at 424 Sobie Road in Grimsby, Ontario. The anaerobic digestion facility was issued a renewable energy approval (REA No. 8541-9HSGG3) on October 1, 2014 and began operating in July 2017. The facility has a nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt.

Escarpment Renewables has submitted an amendment application to the ministry to amend their renewable energy approval for the following:

Proposed Amendments

Increase in annual tonnage

Escarpment Renewable’s existing renewable energy approval permits the facility to process a maximum of 23,000 tonnes of biomass/year. This amendment is to increase the allowed annual tonnage at the facility to 159,000 tonnes/year.

To accommodate the increase, the facility’s infrastructure will be upgraded with additional processing capacity. The additional incoming feedstock will be used to produce an increased volume of biogas and the additional biogas will be used to generate renewable natural gas.

Currently, biogas at the facility is used to operate a combined heat and power engine to produce up to 1 megawatt of electricity under the facility’s existing Feed-In-Tariff contract. There is no change to the maximum electricity production as part of this amendment.

The increased feedstock volume will also increase the incoming and outgoing truck traffic at the facility.

Changes to allowable waste types

The existing renewable energy approval allows the facility to accept liquid and solid tier 1 and tier 2 biomass, including:

• agricultural wastes
• pre-processed source separated organics
• fats, oils, and greases
• dissolved air flotation waste

The proposed expansion includes the receipt of additional organic wastes to:

• improve nutrient recovery
• divert waste from landfill
• generate renewable energy

This approach is consistent with the policy established in the ministry’s Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act and the Food and Organic Waste Policy Statement.

The proposed waste types and maximum tonnages to be accepted at the facility are:

• agricultural waste (up to 7,000 tonnes/year)
• source separated organics (up to 120,000 tonnes/year)
• industrial, commercial and institutional packaged waste (up to 100,000 tonnes/year)
• industrial, commercial and institutional liquid waste (up to 100,000 tonnes/year)
• combined maximum 159,000 tonnes/year

The annual composition of waste received may consist of any combination of the above waste types up to maximum tonnes indicated and not exceeding a combined maximum of 159,000 tonnes/year.

Increase in digester capacity

The existing renewable energy approval allows the facility to have four wet anaerobic digesters with a total combined capacity of 8,664 m³. Two digesters currently exist at the facility.

The proposed expansion includes increasing the facility’s anaerobic digestion capacity to approximately 18,100 m³ by constructing additional digesters. The new digesters would be constructed in a secondary containment system. Stormwater that collects in the secondary containment system would either be used in the anaerobic digestion process, or manually pumped to the stormwater ponds.

Expand facility footprint

The facility is located on a 10.5 hectare property. The developed portion of the property is located in the northwest corner and is approximately 4.8 hectares. The surrounding, undeveloped portion of the property is used as farmland.

As part of the amendment, Escarpment Renewables is proposing to expand the developed portion of the property to the east. The expansion would add approximately 1 hectare to the developed area of the facility, which will be used primarily for storage of digestate and renewable natural gas upgrading system.

Change to operating hours

The existing renewable energy approval permits the facility to receive waste from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Saturday, and operate 24/7/365. The waste receipt and operating hours will not change. However, to facilitate the use of digestate by agricultural operations during peak application periods, Escarpment Renewables is requesting the addition of approved hours for digestate removal, which is currently anticipated to be 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Waste storage improvements

Under the existing renewable energy approval, the facility may not store more than 14,106 m³ of tier 1 and tier 2 biomass at the facility at any time.

The existing renewable energy approval and original design are based primarily receiving agricultural waste. The anaerobic digesters must be fed continuously to maintain the biological health and biogas production. Since agricultural waste is seasonal, the facility required significant storage relative to the total annual feedstock receiving capacity. With the proposed changes to the types and quantity of waste received as part of this amendment, the facility will maintain a steady supply of feedstock for the anaerobic digesters and will not require high storage volumes.

The maximum combined feedstock storage is estimated to be 2,660 m³. With the amendment, all waste will be stored indoors or in enclosed tanks, providing greater odour and nuisance control.

Addition of an organics pre-processing building

The existing renewable energy approval prohibits unpacking of incoming waste. The amendment will include receiving source separated organics and packaged industrial, commercial and institutional waste, which will require the construction of a new organics pre-processing building. This building will function as a receiving building with:

• an indoor tip floor
• a temporary storage area
• a pre-processing area for separating incoming organic material from inert packaging

Organic material will be fed into the anaerobic digesters. Residual waste materials will be compressed and temporarily stored in trailers inside the building for transportation to an off-site disposal facility.

The odourous air from within the organics pre-processing building will be collected and treated with a new air treatment system.

New air treatment system

Escarpment Renewables is proposing to add new air treatment systems at the facility to process odorous air from the organics pre-processing building.

Air from within the organics pre-processing building will be contained by proper ventilation and controlled by the biofilter. Leaks are not expected and will be effectively minimized.

New digestate and biogas storage tanks

Escarpment Renewables is proposing to construct two new digestate and biogas storage tanks at the facility. The new tanks will:

• have a total combined 16,000 m³ of liquid digestate storage capacity
• be equipped with a double membrane style roof to also serve as biogas storage.

The existing biogas storage bladders will be decommissioned and removed from the facility, with all biogas storage being maintained within the digester headspace and the new digestate/biogas storage tanks.

These tanks will be constructed in the eastern expanded footprint within a secondary containment system. Stormwater that collects in the secondary containment system will either be used in the anaerobic digestion process, or manually pumped to the stormwater ponds.

Addition of renewable natural gas upgrading system

No changes are proposed to the amount of electricity produced at the facility for delivery to the grid. However, Escarpment Renewables is proposing to build a new renewable natural gas upgrading system at the facility to produce renewable natural gas from the additional biogas generated in the anaerobic digestion process.

The new renewable natural gas upgrading system is anticipated to produce up to 916 m³/hr of renewable natural gas. The renewable natural gas will be compressed and temporarily stored in tube trailers adjacent to the renewable natural gas upgrading system to allow for easy transportation off site.

Increase biogas flare capacity

The existing renewable energy approval allows for one biogas flare to be operated at the facility, operating during commissioning or as a standby biogas control combustion control device to the combined heat and power engine. The flare is allowed to have a maximum biogas firing rate of 0.135 m³/s.

With the increased biogas production from additional waste receipt and anaerobic digestion capacity, the facility will require an increase to the flaring capacity to continue to provide fully redundant flaring capacity if the renewable natural gas upgrading system and combined heat and power engine fail. Expected required biogas flaring capacity is approximately 2,000 m³/hr or 0.54 m³/s..

Opportunities for public consultation

The ministry has determined that Escarpment Renewables’ proposed changes to the Grimsby Anaerobic Digestion Site would:

• constitute a major project design change as they are significantly different from the original project description and renewable energy approval
• potentially result in an increase in negative environmental effects

The ministry required Escarpment Renewables to hold a public meeting to consult on the changes before submitting an amendment application. Escarpment Renewables held a virtual public meeting on February 28, 2022.

This proposal notice is an additional opportunity for interested stakeholders to provide comments on the proposed changes directly to the ministry for consideration. All comments received will be considered in the decision making of this application.