Enerkem Secures $15 Million Investment for Biofuel Plant in Alberta

Biofuel developer Enerkem Corporation has secured a collective investment of C$15 million from Waste Management and EB Investments for a waste-to-biofuel plant in Alberta.

With their investment Waste Management and EB Investments will hold a minority equity interest in Enerkem's subsidiary Enerkem Alberta Biofuels L.P which is currently building a commercial scale biofuel facility in Edmonton. The two new investors will join Alberta Innovates - Energy and Environment Solutions, the City of Edmonton and Alberta Energy as the main financiers for the project. Enerkem has now raised C$38.35 million the project which is expected to be "among the first full-scale advanced biofuels facilities to be built in North America."

Construction on the plant, which began in the summer of 2010, is slated to be complete next year. When operational Enerkem estimates the facility will have the capacity to convert non-recyclable and non compostable municipal solid waste (MSW) into 10 million gallons of biofuels (methane and ethanol) per year.  As part of a 25-year agreement the City of Edmonton has agreed to supply the the project with 100,000 metric tons of MSW annually.

Enerkem's latest round of funding highlights what has been an exceptional year for attracting new financing to the company. The Montreal-based company has raised C$103 million this year which includes funding backed by the U.S. government. In January U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded Enerkem an US$80 million loan guarantee to build a waste-to-biofuel facility very similar to the Edmonton plant in Pontotoc, Mississippi. The USDA backing joined US$50 million the Mississippi project received from the Department of Energy in 2010.

President and CEO Vincent Chornet said that the investments serve as validation of Enerkem's strong position in the cellulosic ethanol sector.

"We are glad to see our business model and exclusive technology being increasingly backed by equity investors," he said.

Image Credit: Enerkem