The plant, owned and operated by Aux Sable Canada, will be licensed to process up to 20 million cubic feet per day of offgas and will produce hydrogen, ethane and a propane-plus mix. All of the products from the plant will be delivered to Shell’s Scotford Refinery via pipeline, approximately 3km to the northeast.
The plant was originally designed to process offgas from the nearby BA Energy Upgrader, which ceased construction in 2008.
Bill McAdam, president and CEO of Aux Sable Canada, said: “The agreement with Shell is consistent with our strategy to be a leader in the processing of upgrader and refinery offgas in Alberta.”
Modifications to the plant will be made once an amendment to the existing industrial development permit is received from the Energy Resources Conservation Board. Aux Sable expects the plant to be operational in the summer of 2011.
Some of the benefits of processing refinery or bitumen upgrader offgas include a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and an increase in the availability of ethane as feedstock to Alberta’s petrochemical sector, the company said.
Aux Sable Canada expects the ethane from the plant to be the first volumes sourced from offgas to qualify for credits under the Alberta Government’s Incremental Ethane Extraction Policy.
