After over a decade of work, it’s getting to be crunch time for a southern Alberta group hoping to have a $700-million green-energy project built near Brooks.has proposed a facility that would annually process up to 300,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste from the non-profit’s membership of southern and central Alberta municipalities — which do not include Calgary, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat — and waste management jurisdictions, as well as other waste generators across southern Alberta.
“You can’t attract that kind of talent and that kind of money unless you’ve got a good project,” said Ryan.“It’s taken a long time to get where we are today,” said Ryan. “But we did it in a very step-wise manner, with all of our engineering work. And because we did it that way, we were able to attract three of the biggest energy-from-waste vendors in the world.”Both the Alberta and federal governments are waiting to see what happens with the initial memorandum of understanding, he said.
Following an agreement with HZI, the association would ask its member municipalities for a letter of intent to supply the waste to power the facility once costs — including tipping fees and transportation costs — have been firmed up. Now is a good time for municipalities to jump on board, as SAEWA currently has room to take on new members. While no private businesses have signed up yet, companies have approached the organization, which currently represents 51 municipalities with a combined population of 140,000, about the possibility.