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The Greenview Municipal District (MD) and the province of Alberta have just announced an agreement with Northern Petrochemical Corporation to build a $ 2.5 billion carbon-neutral petrochemical project in the MD of Greenview.
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The project is part of an economic development center in Greenview MD called “Greenview Industrial Gateway.”
The project is expected to create 4,000 temporary construction jobs to build and 400 long-term jobs to operate the facility.
According to Geoff Bury, President and CEO of Northern Petrochemical Corporation, the project will produce more than 200 million tonnes of blue methanol and blue hydrogen, which will be shipped by rail to markets in Asia.
“The target market for our products is the Pacific Rim countries,” Bury said, adding that “Japan, South Korea mainly for ammonia and China mainly for methanol.”
This agreement follows the announcement of Alberta’s hydrogen roadmap last week, which sets out a vision for the province to become a world leader in hydrogen production with the help of large supplies of natural gas. from Alberta.
Ammonia can be derived from natural gas, and because ammonia is considered an ideal carrier for hydrogen transportation, the province says this agreement will be a key piece of the province’s vision for hydrogen and natural gas going forward. .
“Today’s announcement is spot on,” said Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kenney, “ammonia and methanol production is a very important part of developing Alberta’s hydrogen economy and finding new uses for reserves of hydrogen. Alberta’s natural gas, which of course is particularly abundant here “on the Montney.”
The prime minister says this initiative is the result of the government’s commitment to finding new applications for the province’s natural gas reserves, and what Kenney calls “a key part of our economic future in this region.”
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“The domino effect of investment will be felt throughout the region and throughout the province as it creates jobs directly and indirectly and contributes to our economy and our diversification,” said Kenney.
Greenview CEO Reeve Tyler Olsen commended the investment and partnership between the City of Grande Prairie and Grande Prairie County for helping this project come to fruition.
“This is an exciting time to be Reeve for the CEO of Greenview,” said Olsen, “today’s event and announcement are a testament to how collaborative effort and commitment to sustainable development can affect economic growth.”
The project will be funded by the Alberta Petrochemicals Incentive Program (APIP), which will contribute taxpayer money to fund 12 percent of the project if completed, costing taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $ 300 million.
“The amount is paid for larger projects during the first three years of operation, and we did it so that we could be very competitive with other jurisdictions,” said Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews.
Reference-www.dailyheraldtribune.com