Bioenergy Producer Program

Important dates

Overview

The Bioenergy Producer Program (BPP) has been extended, with a revised scope, and runs from October 1, 2017 to March 31, 2020. The program is intended to support bioenergy production capacity in Alberta in order to:

• reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the use of fossil fuel alternatives
• create value-added opportunities with economic benefits

The BPP provides grants to dedicated biofuel-producing facilities. These include:

• liquid biofuels such as biodiesel, ethanol and pyrolysis oil
• biogas electricity production from farm-based anaerobic digesters
• electricity produced from wood byproducts (biomass) – stand-alone facility only

For more information, read the Bioenergy Producer Program Outline.

Legislation

• Environment and Sustainable Resource Development Grant Regulation
• Government Organization Act

Funding

Funding will only support production that leads to greenhouse gas reductions when compared to a conventional alternative. Verification of a reduction will be made through a Life Cycle Emission Assessment.

Program budget

The BPP has a $63 million program budget that will span a 30-month period:

• Program Period 1 (October 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018): $10 million
• Program Period 2 (April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019): $28 million
• Program Period 3 (April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020): $25 million

Note: These amounts include program administration expenses.

Facility caps

Table 1. Maximum funding per facility

Producer credit rate

Support for qualifying production is based on the following rates, subject to the maximum levels of support.

Table 2. Producer credit rate

*The Alberta Climate Change Office will post the final credit rate for the grant holder to use in their invoice. See the monthly credit rate section below.

Monthly credit rate

The following credit rates must be used if holding a grant agreement for the production of electricity from the combustion or gasification of biomass.

• Credit Rate Design Guidance

Table 3. Monthly credit rate for electricity from biomass combustion and gasification

*Monthly average pool price is taken from the Alberta Electric System Operator’s Pool Monthly Summary Report.

Eligibility

For more details about eligibility requirements, see:

• Bioenergy Producer Program Outline
• BPP Eligibility Criteria Overview

The BPP is intended for Alberta bioenergy producers. The application submission period for the BPP officially ended on February 26, 2018 and no new applications are being accepted.

Facilities with accepted EOIs can still submit their application by December 14, 2019.

In order to be eligible for funding under the program, facilities with accepted EOIs must have produced bioenergy for a minimum of 3 consecutive months prior to their application being submitted.

Applicants with accepted EOIs that are approved following submission of formal applications will be eligible for funding for the remaining duration of the BPP, subject to the terms and conditions of the grant agreement.

How to apply

Step 1. Read the guidelines

• Application Process Overview
• Application Guidance (PDF, 103 KB)

Step 2. Complete the application package

• BPP Application Package (XLS, 414 KB)

Step 3. Submit the application package

Applications from accepted EOI facilities must be received by 4:30 pm Mountain Time on December 14, 2019. Any late or incomplete submissions will not be accepted.

Only online submissions (by email) will be accepted. Email your application to bpp@gov.ab.ca.

Reporting

Quarterly invoice

• Quarterly Invoice Report Guideline (PDF, 77 KB)
• Quarterly Invoice Report Form (XLS, 822 KB)

Table 4. Program reporting deadlines

Period report

Grant recipients must submit the Period Report for the program on or before the due dates in Table 5, along with the Third-party Audit Report and a stamped or sealed engineer’s letter verifying production and calibration certificates of measurement equipment.

• Period Report Guideline (PDF, 143 KB)
• Period Report Form (XLS, 404 KB)

Table 5. Period report due dates

Third-party audit report

• Third-party Audit Report Form (XLS, 335 KB)

Life cycle emission verification and assessment

Applicants will need to provide a Life Cycle Emission Assessment of their bioenergy production, verified by a qualified third party acceptable to the province with their application package and all Period Reports.

A third-party Lifecycle Emission Verification Report is a mandatory item with Period Reports for Program Periods 2 and 3.

• Life Cycle Emission Guideline (PDF, 213 KB)
• Life Cycle Emission Verification Report Guideline (PDF, 45 KB)
• Life Cycle Emission Verification Report Template (DOCX, 62 KB)
• Life Cycle Emission Verification Report Forms (XLS, 208 KB)
• Life Cycle Emission Assessment Forms (XLS, 120 KB)

Grant recipients

Table 6. Grant recipients

Resources

• Carbon Offset Emission Factors Handbook
• CSA Group – GHG Reductions Registry - Verification Guidance
  List of potential third-party verifiers. Qualified, third-party verifiers are not limited to this list and those listed are not endorsed by the government. The selected third-party verifier should have familiarity with the type of project being verified.
• GHGenius
  4.03a or more current versions are acceptable.
• Technical Guidance for Offset Protocol Development and Revision

Contact

Connect with the BPP by email at bpp@gov.ab.ca.