Municipal officials are taking the next steps towards a Chatham-Kent Waste to Energy Project.
Chatham-Kent Council has given the go-ahead to move forward with preliminary administrative steps towards creating an industrial anaerobic digester to turn organic waste into renewable natural gas instead of sending it to landfill.
The proposed facility has been in development between the municipality and Greenfield Global since 2021 with the current estimated cost sitting at roughly $160 million.
The anticipated funding model includes approximately $40 million in equity investment, with $16 million coming from Chatham-Kent and $24 million coming from Greenfield Global. CK’s Chief Financial Officer Gord Quinton explained there will be roughly $60 million needed in secured federal funding with the remaining $60 to $70 million being financed through debt, including up to $25 million from Infrastructure Ontario.
A final engineered estimate by both Chatham-Kent council and the Greenfield Global Board of Directors will be made available before a scheduled final “go/no-go” vote at council’s meeting on April 27.
“We are working tirelessly towards bringing council and the PUC all the financial information, legal advice, expert opinions that they need to make a decision in April,” said Chatham-Kent’s Chief Financial Officer Gord Quinton.
Staff will now begin the administrative work to create a Municipal Services Corporation (MSC) under the Municipal Act. This includes:
- Approval of the initial board of the MSC, made up of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, and General Manager of the Public Utilities Commission.
- Applying for preliminary financing from Infrastructure Ontario.
- Authorizing a future loan agreement between the municipality and the MSC, contingent on the final vote on the Renewable Natural Gas facility in April.
With council’s approval last night, an online forum will be put together through the Let’s Talk Chatham-Kent website to gather residents’ questions and concerns.
“It’s a massive project and there’s a lot of information that needs to be shared with the community,” Quinton added.