Construction underway on Imperial’s renewable diesel facility near Edmonton, Alberta

In its second-quarter financials released July 28, Imperial, Canada’s largest petroleum refiner, said the renewable diesel project at its Strathcona refinery near Edmonton, Alberta, passed a significant milestone during the quarter.

In May, key contractors were mobilized to the site to begin work on facility construction.

The project is designed to produce more than 1 billion liters (264 million gallons) of renewable diesel annually.

The plant will primarily use locally sourced feedstocks, the company stated.

According to Imperial, the project could help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by about 3 million metric tons per year, as determined in accordance with Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulations.

“We support Canada’s vision for a lower-emission future, and I am encouraged to see the work now underway to build Canada’s largest renewable diesel facility,” said Brad Corson, Imperial’s chairman, president and CEO.

“The project remains on track for a 2025 start-up and is expected to produce more than 1 billion liters of renewable diesel annually to help meet strong demand under Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulations and reduce reliance on costly imports,” Corson added.

The project was first announced in August 2021.

In September 2022, Imperial entered a long-term contract with Air Products to supply low-carbon hydrogen for the renewable diesel project.

A month later, Fluor announced Imperial had awarded the company a reimbursable front-end engineering and detailed design, engineering and procurement services contract for the Strathcona renewable diesel facility.

Then, early this year, Imperial announced its final investment decision in moving forward with the major project.

Imperial also announced in its second-quarter financials that the company took delivery of its first-ever shipment of renewable diesel at its Kearl Oil Sands Project in Alberta for use in its mine fleet.

The company said use of renewable diesel at its oil-sands mining operation is part of its ongoing efforts to reduce emissions and demonstrate the suitability of renewable diesel for use in heavy-equipment applications.