The federal government has announced over $25 million for four projects under the Green Shipping Corridor Program, including a multimillion-dollar investment in Windsor.
Minister of Transport Anita Anand was in Windsor Tuesday to announce the funding aimed at establishing green shipping corridors and reducing emissions through the Great Lakes region as a result of shore-power and alternative fuel solutions in the marine sector.
Sterling Fuels will receive up to $4.9 million in funding as part of a $10 million project to modify existing infrastructure and build additional fuel infrastructure at its facilities in Windsor and Hamilton.
The project will see $6 million invested in the Sterling Fuels facility in West Windsor, just off Russell Street along the Detroit River, to bring biofuels to the market for use by the Great Lakes shipping industry.
Sterling Fuels President Peter Kelly says the project will include several upgrades to the facility.
"So we'll be doing some pipe work; we'll be doing some for pumps and piping; some tank work as well; and reconfiguring our tanks so they can handle the biofuels," he says.
Kelly says this will help build the infrastructure to bring biofuels to the market and make it a sustainable fuel for the future.
"When you think of marine diesel that they're using now, just think of a normal truck diesel; that's what they're using. What they're moving to is soybean-based for the most part. That biofuel reduces emissions by around 80 per cent," he says.
Kelly says they've already started work on the project, which will take a couple of years.
"It's not only important for our organization, but I think it's important for the entire marine industry in particular because it now builds the infrastructure so that we can bring biofuels to the market and make them a sustainable fuel of the future," he says.
The Green Shipping Corridor Program provides funding for projects that contribute to the establishment of green shipping corridors and the decarbonization of the marine sector along the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway, as well as Canada's East and West Coasts.