Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) directors have decided to abandon a project on the books since 2007 that would have seen landfill gas converted to electricity.
The project was originally pitched by members of the SCRD to the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM), which granted the project $1.08 million to help bring it to fruition by 2010.
When it came time to implement the project, the SCRD found that the engine technology the original grant application was based upon was no longer commercially available, according to general manager of infrastructure services Bryan Shoji.
Speaking at the July 2 infrastructure services committee meeting, Shoji said UBCM extended the grant to April 20, 2016 to give the SCRD time to find another design option that would still fit the innovative grant funding criteria.
“We’ve been trying every single avenue to move this project forward to construction,” Shoji said, adding nothing has panned out.
One option that would have seen Fortis Gas get involved was “moving along pretty good,” he said, but the option fell flat when the SCRD realized “they basically forgot to tell us that there was going to be a $2-million capital cost.”
The last option to be explored, he said, “was just collecting the landfill gas and flaring it, which is just burning it, so that you actually decrease the greenhouse gas emissions, but you’re not generating any energy.” That idea, however, likely wouldn’t fit the UBCM grant funding criteria.
“So after we assessed everything, our recommendation is to forfeit the grant and not proceed with the project.”
Sechelt director Bruce Milne said the loss of the grant was a bit disappointing, but added “it’s important to actually make sure these things are viable.”
When the question was called to abandon the project and forfeit the UBCM funding, all directors were in favour. The vote was expected to be ratified at a regular council meeting on July 9.
