Redcliff getting a compressed natural gas station thanks to federal cash

A new compressed natural gas fuelling station will be built in Redcliff, in part because of a federal government grant to expand a network of stations and promote the fuel to long-haul truckers.

The $3-million grant to Envoy Energy is to complete three stations in Western Canada — in Redcliff, Swift Current and Prawda, Man., (east of Winnipeg on the Trans-Canada Highway).

The company, which is based in Milton, Ont., also partners with municipalities on extracting and capturing methane produced in landfills, and also received similar funding Thursday for three stations in Northern Ontario.

Messages left by the News on Thursday for more information were not returned.

Stations involved in this week’s announcements will have onsite storage and operate on a cardlock system, according to the announcement, made on behalf of Natural Resources Canada by special envoy to the prairies, MP Jim Carr.

“Natural gas is a sustainable and economical option for the transportation sector,” said Carr in a statement. “Today’s investment is helping Canadian trucking fleets adopt cleaner fuel sources without compromising their day-to-day efficiency while supporting our goal of a netzero future.”

Use in transportation of the fuel, which can produce one-quarter the emissions of diesel, has long been advocated by the traditional energy industry, though observers say a substantial hurdle has been the logistics of requiring easy ability to refuel.

“The network of CNG and RNG (renewable natural gas from landfills) stations along the Trans-Canada Highway will provide the necessary refuelling infrastructure for heavy-duty Class-8 trucks to confidently travel across the country and allow more vehicles to reduce their carbon footprint,” stated James Ro, Envoy’s president, in a statement.

In 2012 the City of Medicine Hat began transforming its fleet of buses and garbage trucks to operate on the cleaner burning fuel and commissioned its own CNG fuelling station after seeking out a partnership with the private sector.

However, the plan to switch over the entire fleet when replacement units were bought was scaled back in 2018 after administrators stated a lack of alternative stations would risk operations if there was a breakdown at the city’s station on 10th Avenue SW.

A schedule of fleet purchases in 2019 showed half the new models of buses should run on diesel.

The exact locations or timelines of new station construction was not available.

According to a map on Envoy’s website, CMG fuelling stations are available at Atco facilities in Lethbridge and Calgary.