INNISFAIL – Varme Energy has taken its bold plan of revolutionizing waste disposal from soiled landfills to clean, cutting-edge waste-to-energy technology to the City of Calgary with an imminent proposal to process the urban municipality’s more than one million tons of annual waste at Innisfail’s planned $200 million facility.
For the past six months Varme, the Canadian subsidiary of Norway-based Green Transition Holdings that has extensive experience developing waste-to-energy facilities in Europe, has been pitching its Innisfail plan to several central Alberta municipalities to secure enough waste contracts to make the proposed Innisfail project viable.
Last weekend during a Future of Energy presentation at the annual Innisfail & District Spring Trade Show, Sean Collins, the chief executive officer of Varme, said the project would be viable at handling 100,000 tons of waste annually, with Innisfail expected to provide about 4,000 tons.
During his presentation Collins said Varme is now taking an “aggressive run” at the City of Calgary’s annual one million tons of waste that is now being landfilled, which if secured would expedite the plans and fortunes of the Innisfail project that is hoped to be constructed and operational by 2026.
“We're calling it the charm offensive of working with the City of Calgary to try to contract their waste into the project. It’s a bit mind-blowing when you think about the volumes of waste coming out of the major urban centres,” said Collins, conceding a future signed contract with the City of Calgary would be a game changer for the fortunes of the Innisfail project.
“Totally. Absolutely; a really bankable partner. That's one of the reasons we're starting to surface it and talk about it more. It’s a really important contract if we can secure that one.”
In a later interview with the Albertan Collins said Varme in partnership with the Town of Innisfail is in the process of “executing” a campaign to secure the contract with the City of Calgary.
Collins said at this point negotiations with Calgary are at the “very preliminary” stage but “positively received.
He said it’s hoped the process can be wrapped up by early fall.
“We're developing a proposal for the City of Calgary. We’ve had interaction with their waste group and their procurement team, as well as some folks within Calgary economic development,” said Collins, emphasizing there are no commitments yet from the City of Calgary. “So generally, we’re trying to set the stage for them to receive a proposal from us positively. We think that whole process, start to finish, may take six months.
The Albertan contacted the City of Calgary for comment but was told by the media relations department in an email response the city has not received any Varme proposals.
“We are unable to comment currently or until a proposal is sent to either administration or council,” said Sherri Zickefoose from the media relations office.
In the meantime, Town of Innisfail Mayor Jean Barclay said she is pleased with the overall progress Varme has been making to ensure its planned local facility is viable, adding the company has always shown credibility.
“I know they're approaching many municipalities about securing waste for the project,” said Barclay. “We've known from the beginning Innisfail doesn't have the waste that's required. We need other municipalities who are willing to do business with Varme.
“I know they're working extremely hard trying to make this project come to fruition,” she added. “I look forward to hearing what comes out of all the discussions they're having.”
