Strathcona County will soon be home to the country's largest renewable diesel plant.
On Thursday (Jan. 26), Imperial Oil announced that it had greenlit the construction of a $720 million renewable diesel facility at their Strathcona refinery near Sherwood Park.
The investment was made to support Canada's efforts to lower carbon emissions.
“Imperial supports Canada’s vision for a lower-emission future, and we are making strategic investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our own operations and to help customers in vital sectors of the economy reduce their emissions," said Brad Corson, the chairman, president, and CEO of Imperial.
"The investment at our Strathcona refinery will deliver immediate benefits to the local economy creating jobs and contributing to a lower-emission energy future for our employees, neighbours and communities.”
The new facility is expected to produce more than one billion litres of renewable diesel annually, which amounts to about 20,000 barrels a day.
This diesel will be locally sourced from feedstocks, a strategy that Imperial suggests could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 3 million metric tons per year.
"Imperial’s renewable diesel facility will use low-carbon hydrogen produced with carbon capture and storage technology to help Canada meet low-emission fuel standards," the company said in a release.
"The low-carbon hydrogen and biofeedstock will be combined with a proprietary catalyst to produce premium lower-emission diesel fuel and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions relative to conventional fuels."
According to Imperial, construction is already underway with production slated to start in 2025.