All oil and gas facilities that have a facility code with an Operational Status of Active (Petrinex or equivalent) are eligible to participate. For projects to be eligible, they must occur at facilities located within Alberta, be operated, owned or leased by the Participant, meet project timeline requirements, and follow the criteria outlined in the Participant Terms and Conditions.

Like the Energy Savings for Business Program, one of SPEED’s key objectives is to drive increased market uptake of proven commercial technologies to small- and medium-sized businesses. SPEED targets small- and medium-sized businesses through the program design elements including the eligible measure types, the technology size limit, and the $1 million incentive maximum per parent company. However, all oil and gas facilities with an active facility code in Petrinex are eligible to participate.

Yes. Applicants and product and service providers who have already registered for the ESB Program will need to register again for SPEED using a distinct email address. Both Applicants and product and service providers can register on the SPEED webpage.

Yes, facilities regulated under Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) are eligible. Facilities that have opted-in to TIER and sites not currently opted-in under the regulation are also eligible.

An external contractor is not required. All projects must have an Eligible Contractor assigned in the SPEED Portal; however, Participants wishing to complete the project internally can register a second account as an Eligible Contractor and assign themselves to the project. With this approach, the following also applies:

• The SPEED Contractor Code of Conduct and all associated requirements to be an Eligible Contractor must be accepted and adhered to
• Costs associated with labour completed internally will not be considered as eligible expenses
• Any eligible costs not supported by third-party invoices or proof of payment will be set equal to the fair market value, as determined by ERA.

If your project changes between pre-approval and the post-project submission, you will need to update your application details in the SPEED Portal and ensure that the correct incentive is reserved for your project. Once you are past the pre-project approval step, you will not be able to make substantial changes unless you submit a Change Request. Without submitting a Change Request, you will not be able to add new measures categories; you will only be able to remove them. You can change the quantities of the specific measures you have indicated that you are installing; however, the incentive amount is capped at 105 per cent of what was pre-approved.

Changes that are permissible to the project during installation phases are:

• An increase in the quantity of Eligible Measures listed in the Application Summary, where the Pre-Project Estimated Incentive increases by 5 percent or less
• A decrease in the quantity of Eligible Measures to be installed
• A change to the model number of an Eligible Measure provided that the new model number meets the same Specifications for that Eligible Measure
• A change to the Eligible Contractor

The Participant may request any other change to the Participant Acceptance not listed above by submitting a written request to ERA 60 days prior to the Project deadline. ERA will consider each Change Request on a case-by-case basis and make a decision about the Change Request at ERA’s sole discretion.

As part of the pre-approval process, each project will receive an Application Summary that clearly states a submission deadline. Projects that fail to meet that deadline risk losing their funding.

Pre-approval reservations are valid for up to ten months from the date that the approval is granted. Projects may request timeline extensions at pre-approval and will be reviewed and approved on a case-by-case basis. Any approved deadline extensions will also be clearly shown on the application approval form.

After the project is constructed, the Participant must start the post-project application. At that point, the Participant can again assign a Contractor who can help them complete the post-project application. Similar to the pre-approval application, the Participant will be required to review and submit the post-project application when it is ready.

Site inspections are performed to ensure that equipment or services submitted for incentives have been installed as expected. Inspections will include checks to verify that the product types and quantities installed exactly match the equipment identified in the application. Site visits will be performed through an on-site or virtual inspection, respecting safe operating practices. Participants should have access to all areas of the facility where measures have been installed.

Site inspections will be scheduled after equipment is installed. Site inspections are required for all applications with incentives equal to or greater than $100,000 and will also be performed for randomly sampled applications of less than $100,000. Emissions Reduction Alberta reserves the right to inspect any project prior to issuing an incentive.

Contractors can play a big role in helping Participants fill out technical aspects of the application; however, they cannot start an application on behalf of a client. The Participant must start the application and can then assign an Eligible Contractor. Once the main contractor has been assigned to the application, the Participant can allow the contractor to provide project information, such as technical specs, equipment/measure information, studies, etc. Prior to application submission, the applicant must sign off on the application, and submit it themselves.

Yes, as long as your customer (a Participant) submits a Project Incentive Payment to Eligible Contractor Authorization Form, which can be found in Schedule A of the SPEED Participant Terms and Conditions. This step is completed by the Participant during the post-project review stage once the participant has been notified that they are eligible to receive incentive payment.

If this arrangement is planned, please ensure that all documentation of expenses included as part of the post-project submission show the full costs before incentive values are deducted.

Yes. Oil and gas producers are eligible to participate as long as their facilities have a facility code with an Operational Status of Active (Petrinex or equivalent).

Yes. Additional details on VFDs can be found in the SPEED Eligible Measures List under the Motors and Drives section.

Yes, given that each application will be evaluated individually so to give each project a chance to be evaluated on its own merits, this is the recommended approach.

If multiple measure types in a project are interrelated and must be completed together to proceed (e.g., pump jack electrification and a Variable Frequency Drive), the applicant should submit them together and both measures will be evaluated together.

If you are planning to install the same measure at multiple facilities, in step 5 of the application process please provide a list of all the Petrinex IDs and specify the number of measures being installed at each facility. This way you will not need to submit an application for each facility.

Yes, for engine projects and AFRs, on-site measurements must be provided at the post-project application stage. This includes measurements for both before and after the equipment is installed. The costs to obtain these measurements should be included in your project costs. However, you will only need to spend these costs once your incentive reservation has been confirmed.

Depending on the equipment you are installing, please note that two visits may be required (pre-installation and post-installation). Please budget for these costs accordingly in your application.

Environmental attributes from SPEED projects cannot be traded, sold, or used to generate offset credits. They may be used to meet Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) Regulation compliance requirements in current or future years at the same facility where the SPEED project occurred (or at an aggregated facility).

SPEED participants can continue to have full access to use Emissions Performance Credits or purchase carbon offsets that are not tied to the SPEED project.

As SPEED is not a first come, first served program, we will determine whether a wait list is required once the application window closes. Every application that is submitted within the application period will be reviewed.

If you are unable to find your facility on the Petrinex list, please contact speed@esbprogram.ca

At the pre-project stage fuel savings will be calculated using a model and reported in the application portal. As part of the post-project application process, you will need to take on-site measurements for both before and after the project is installed. Please note that the requirement to take on-site measurements only applies to engine projects and AFR controllers.

If after completing the on-site measurements the savings are different than what was calculated using the model at the pre-project stage, your incentive generally will not be impacted. In circumstances where there is a drastic change in savings ERA may revaluate the incentive amount. Please provide your best estimate at the pre-project stage and the actual measurement for your post-project submission.

Yes. Please note that GHG savings will only be calculated based on technologies in the measures list. In this sense, any GHG savings associated to the battery will not be included when calculating your abatement cost.

No, the environmental attributes and environmental products that are created or otherwise arise from any eligible project cannot be traded, sold, or used to generate offset credits.

For clarity, environmental attributes may be used to meet Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) Regulation compliance requirements in current or future years solely for the TIER regulated facility at which the project is installed.

Only the emissions reduction from converting the pumpjack power source from a natural gas generator to grid-power would be counted towards the project emissions reduction calculation. The emissions reduction from the electrification of the other equipment would not be included when calculating your abatement cost.

Yes, in your application you are able to submit a portion or all of your project’s eligible expenses. If you have additional project expenses but don’t want to include them as part of your eligible expenses, we still recommend entering these costs in Step 5 of the application so that we can consider them if additional funding becomes available.

If the ECCC facility ID can be found using the link here: https://climate-change.canada.ca/facility-emissions/ and has up to date data, then it would be considered a Petrinex equivalent.

When submitting your application, please input the ECCC ID in the Petrinex ID box when prompted for your facility details.

SPEED is a prescriptive program and incentives are based on size, quantity, capacity, or a metric of energy savings. The incentive for economizers was set based on recovering heat from the boiler exhaust. However, if in your project there is a greater potential for heat recovery on the engine exhaust stack, we would provide an exception for you to apply for an incentive under the economizer measure category. Please note the incentive cap remains $20,000 for non-condensing and $30,000 for condensing economizers.

Minimum requirements for submitting an application are as follows:

• The participant, facility and project meet all the eligibility requirements in the SPEED Participant Terms and Conditions.
• The application is submitted before the application deadline of 5:00PM MST on May 9, 2022.
• Applications must be submitted using the SPEED Portal. Users must create an account and complete all mandatory forms to submit an application. Each application must consist of the following:
  • Completed Workplan Template.
  • Full Cost Quote(s). The Cost Quote should identify the manufacturer name and model numbers of the equipment. Additionally, the costs provided in the Cost Quote should align with the sum of the three types of costs (equipment and materials, labour, and design/other) provided in the application for each Eligible Measure. Please use the Cost Quote Template (available on the SPEED webpage) to help speed
    up the review of your application.
  • All additional information as required in the Application Checklist for each applicable Measure category (Application Checklists are available on the SPEED webpage).
  • Online Information: In addition to the application content outlined above, applicants are also required to enter general information about the project into the Portal.

If you have any questions regarding your application or minimum requirements, please contact us before the application deadline.

As per the Alberta Greenhouse Gas Quantification Methodologies (Version 2.2), please use the emissions factor found in table 1-3 to convert NOx to N₂O emissions.