Organic Waste-to-Energy

Program Category: Clean Energy, Climate Mitigation

Program Sub-Category: Renewable Energy, Innovation, Waste Reduction and Circular Economy

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Status: Open

Funder

Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM)

Deadline Details

Applications are accepted year-round until all annual funds are allocated. Once all funding is allocated for the year, any new applications are deferred for approval to the following fiscal year, beginning April 1. If your application is deferred, the program will let you know.

The Green Municipal Fund (GMF) Organic Waste-to-Energy offer supports communities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by generating energy from organic waste streams or landfill gas. GMF funds business case development, feasibility studies and capital projects that allow municipalities to produce and use local sources of energy and generate additional valuable products such as digestate and fertilizers.

All projects must meet certain eligibility criteria. Please visit the specific websites for Capital Projects, Studies, and Business Cases to learn more about eligibility criteria.

Eligible Community

The following organizations are eligible for GMF funding:

Canadian municipal governments (e.g., towns, cities, regions, districts, and local boards).

Municipal partners, which include:

An Indigenous community is an eligible lead applicant if they are partnering with a Canadian municipal government on an eligible project, or if they have a shared service agreement with a Canadian municipal government related to municipal infrastructure, climate change or adaptation
Private sector entities
Municipally-owned corporations
Regional, provincial or territorial organizations delivering municipal services
Non-governmental organizations
Not-for-profit organizations
Research institutes (e.g., universities)

Specific Eligibility Requirements

IMPORTANT: If your organization is not a municipal government, your initiative must be delivered in partnership with one. You will be required to provide the name of the main project contact for your lead municipality on the project team. You will also be required to submit a municipal council resolution stating municipal partnership. Please refer to the GMF Funding Application Guide for more details.

For Studies and Business Cases, the following applicants may qualify for a grant of up to 80 percent of eligible project costs:

municipalities (or their partners) with a population of 10,000 or under;
regional governments or groups of municipalities where the average population of the member municipalities is 10,000 or under;
eligible Indigenous communities; and,
northern communities
Northern and eligible Indigenous communities that are applying to GMF for the first time may qualify for a grant of up to 100 percent of eligible costs.

Contact GMF at gmfinfo@fcm.ca to learn more.

Other Eligible Applicants

Businesses / For-profit
Non-governmental Organizations / Not-for-Profits
Economic Development Agencies
Academic Institutions

Type of Funding

Grant
Loan

Range of Funding Available per Project

Under $100 000
From $100 000 to $1 000 000
Over $1 000 000

Description of Funding

For Capital Projects that construct, commission and begin operation of an organic waste-to-energy system:
- Combined grant and loan for up to 80% of eligible costs
- Combined grant and loan to a maximum of $10 million
- Grant up to 15%** of the total loan amount (**municipalities with exceptional projects may qualify for a higher loan and grant amount. Contact GMF to find out if your municipality is eligible.)
- Additional 5% grant available if the project involves the remediation of a brownfield site
For Studies that conduct a detailed feasibility assessment outlining the design of a proposed organic waste-to-energy system, grants are available for up to 50% of eligible costs to a max of $200,000.
For Business Cases that assess viable waste-to-energy systems and business models for your project, grants are available for up to 50% of eligible costs to a max of $100,000.

Eligible Costs

GMF Organic Waste-to-Energy funds:

Projects that generate energy from landfill gas, anaerobic digestion, or aerobic composting with heat recovery
Energy systems that use organic feedstocks including food waste, yard waste, biosolids, or the organic fraction of construction/demolition waste, packaging, agricultural or forestry waste.
Business cases that assess viable waste-to-energy systems and business models for a given site and/or feedstock.
Detailed technical assessments outlining the design of a proposed organic waste-to-energy system.
Construction of organic waste-to-energy systems.

Ineligible Costs

The following are ineligible under this offer, but may be eligible through GMF’s Community Energy Systems offer:

Energy generation projects that power multiple buildings through district energy systems.

The following are ineligible under this offer, but may be eligible through GMF’s Net-Zero Transformation offer:

pyrolysis and gasification systems (low/no oxygen systems)
non-organic feedstock materials
pilot projects trialing emerging and/or untested technologies, or the application of technologies in novel and/or untested circumstances

The following are ineligible for funding:

Combustion of waste (high oxygen systems).
Projects that rely on feedstocks that would otherwise be recycled or reused to generate higher value end products.
Waste collection, transfer stations, recycling facilities, eco-centres.
Landfill gas recovery systems and methane control monitoring for landfills that are required to control methane emissions under provincial or proposed federal landfill gas regulations. However, methane destruction devices including energy generation systems are eligible for these sites.
Agricultural or forestry biomass grown or harvested for the purpose of producing energy.

Reporting Requirements

Progress reports and final reports