No pipeline? No problem.

By creating a safe way to transport renewable natural gas to areas without a pipeline connection, Certarus is driving the industry to the future

With a burn signature that’s roughly 30% cleaner than diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG) is rapidly gaining popularity as a replacement fuel for a plethora of industries. Natural gas innovator Certarus was a catalyst for the oil and gas sector to move away from running diesel for the onsite energy demands of drilling and completions operations.

Dan Messina

“That simple switch away from running predominantly diesel has massive emission reduction benefits, and we’re not even talking about the utilization of renewable natural gas (RNG), which could result in negative carbon emissions,” said Dan Messina, the company’s Vice President, Renewable Natural Gas.

The Calgary-based low carbon energy solutions company focuses on safely displacing high carbon fuels in high consumption areas of North America, leveraging CNG, hydrogen and RNG through their unique platform of mobile storage units (MSUs).

In May of last year, Superior Plus (Superior) (TSX: SPB), a leading North American distributor and marketer of portable fuels, acquired Certarus to expand its presence into the CNG, RNG, and hydrogen markets. “Superior has a tremendous history in the portable fuel distribution market, dating back to 1951,” Messina said. “They have energy transition and low carbon energy solutions at top of mind, and they’re viewing Certarus as a vehicle to expand their offerings of over-the-road lower carbon energy solutions to a growing customer base.”

The volume of gas that Certarus has moved over the last decade is striking. “We just had multiple record days where we moved 100,000 MMBtus of gas in a single day, the majority of which are displacing higher carbon fuels to realize significant cost savings and emissions reductions,” he reported. Certarus has experienced rapid growth in recent years, seeing its workforce more than double from under 250 employees in 2020 to nearly 700 today.

The demand for low carbon energy solutions from pipeline-stranded consumers in different verticals such as utilities, industry, and well sites is skyrocketing. As energy consumption increases, so will the challenges of building pipeline networks throughout North America. These challenges become particularly important to solve given that RNG – widely considered a critical path to decarbonization – relies on these same strained transportation networks. That’s where the pioneers at Certarus come into the picture.

A full-time team of over 25 engineers working in concert with a robust technical operations team who are experts in compressing, transporting, and decompressing gas work on the toughest decarbonization problems. Many members of the Certarus crew bring oil and gas expertise to bear on solutions for setting up and executing RNG projects. “How do we build, construct, and operate these unique mobile portions of biogas projects efficiently and on time? They figure out the answers,” Messina said. “We are discovering continuous efficiency improvements with our development partners.”

Certarus collaborates with RNG developers across North America to help ameliorate the numerous challenges associated with delivering RNG to the market. For years now, the company has been finding innovative ways to transport RNG safely and effectively from pipeline-stranded feedstock locations to the point of sale or directly to voluntary RNG buyers. The scale of Certarus’ equipment and personnel base also uniquely positions them to prevent the wastefulness and complete financial losses associated with flaring produced RNG, that is often the result of delayed pipeline or interconnect construction.

Several short-term mobile access to pipeline projects are underway, where Certarus brings in mobile compression to load RNG into Certarus trailers, then transporting and injecting it into pipelines utilizing the company’s mobile pressure reduction system. “Our ability to stand with customers in these short-term RNG pipeline challenges and help create solutions for them to monetize their biogas is a great example of what our team is capable of,” he noted. “That’s something that almost nobody else in this space can do on a flexible basis.”

“Most companies in this space are running very thin because of the high capital investment required. They are only owning and utilizing the assets that they need for specific projects,” he explained. “So when something unexpected happens, most developers are forced to waste valuable RNG, while teams that are working with Certarus have the peace of mind that comes with the largest fleet of MSUs in North America, knowing that our team can flex in additional assets to support whatever challenges they may face.”

When RNG isn’t directly connected to a pipeline, Certarus can receive it from a gas upgrading system and handle everything downstream, including designing, building, and operating RNG loading and injection facilities. “If a project needs natural gas to keep digesters running, Certarus can design a system that returns CNG to the development site from the injection site, which allows projects to use clean CNG for internal consumption while still collecting renewable energy credits on the RNG they produce.”

Certarus’ robust fleet and broad geographic footprint enable them to move assets rapidly to support customers across a broad swath of industries. An estimated 40% of the overall MSU market is owned and operated by Certarus. Their focus on continued support of customers in need of low carbon solutions has triggered rapid growth of their equipment fleet. Last August, Certarus demonstrated that commitment to their customers by placing a USD $54 million order from long-time partner, Hexagon Agility (Hexagon), the largest single MSU order ever placed with Hexagon. At present, they have about 760 MSUs, with plans to expand the fleet to over 850 trailers by the end of 2024.

These champions of sustainability, diversity, and social progress live and breathe their passion for creating a better world. “When you combine intentional culture, meaningful work and competitive compensation, you build a company where great people love the work that they’re doing,” Messina concluded. “And it has created the best company I’ve ever had the opportunity to work for.”

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Certarus Ltd. is a division of Superior Plus, which is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SPB. Certarus is the North American market leader in providing low carbon energy solutions, selling and distributing compressed natural gas (“CNG”) and hydrogen across Canada and the U.S. to large-scale, industrial users, and connecting renewable natural gas (“RNG”) production facilities to natural gas distribution networks through on-road transportation. Visit: www.certarus.com

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Corporate Office

308 4 Ave SW #3400

Calgary, AB T2P 0H7

Canada

Phone Number: 403.930.0123

Homepage Link: https://certarus.com/

LinkedIn:    https://www.linkedin.com/company/certarus-ltd./

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