Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for the invitation to appear today to talk about Canada's low-carbon and renewable fuels industry.
As president and CEO of Covenant Energy, I'm excited to be here to share our experience and provide some insight to the committee about the opportunities to ensure that Canada remains a world leader in producing low-carbon and renewable fuels.
Covenant Energy was founded in 2019 with a mission to become a Canadian leader in the low-carbon fuel industry. We want to achieve this by producing clean renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel. To do this, Covenant Energy is developing one of the first stand-alone hydrogenation-derived renewable diesel facilities in Canada. Our plant will be located in southern Saskatchewan and use Canadian-farmed and processed canola as the primary feedstock to create a top-quality biofuel. We estimate that our facility will produce about 325 million litres of renewable diesel annually and we will have the capacity to produce Arctic-grade renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.
We know that there's a great interest in both arctic-grade renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel as there are continued needs from the transportation sector and for remote power generation. For Canada, having a reliable domestic supply of arctic-grade renewable diesel is particularly important to decarbonizing our northern communities. Many of our northern and remote communities will continue to rely on diesel fuel for many more years. Covenant Energy would like to supply a drop-in alternative that will instantly decarbonize existing equipment. We also believe that sustainable aviation fuel is the way of the future for the aviation industry.
We expect to hire 50 employees directly and create 200 to 300 jobs for the design and build of the project. There will also be extensive indirect employment in the agricultural, shipping and processing industries that will lead to economic benefits for southern Saskatchewan.
Our commitment to renewable fuel production has made it possible for other companies along the supply chain to grow in southern Saskatchewan. Recently, there has been news of three crush facilities being expanded or opening in Saskatchewan with potentially more to come. This is the result of projects like ours that will help provide demand for crushing capacity.
Our facility will also be using renewable hydrogen created in the process to replace about 90% of natural gas consumption. We're also exploring how to incorporate cutting-edge carbon capture, utilization and storage technology. Currently, Covenant Energy plans to be in operation by the end of 2023, which aligns with the implementation of the clean fuel regulations.
I am part of a fifth-generation Saskatchewan canola-farming family with over 13,000 acres of production. Supporting renewable fuel production in Canada is something that should be done and will be beneficial to our agricultural producers and value-adding processors, and will create local jobs in the green economy. Currently, the majority of canola that is grown in Canada gets exported and transformed into other products, including biofuels. Our processing plant will give us an opportunity to close the supply chain loop and provide a valuable component to the emerging low-emissions fuels economy in the Prairies.
The current design of the plant also gives us the flexibility to double our production capacity in the future. By creating an increased local demand for canola, we will help protect our canola industry from the fluctuations felt as a result of trade disputes.
Our project's success will depend on the successful implementation of the government's clean fuel regulations. While we expect domestic demand to take up most of our supply, our proposed location is situated on a class I railway, giving the flexibility to access feedstock from across Canada and the U.S. and providing the potential to sell a finished product into the U.S. market, helping to export Canadian clean fuels to our neighbours who are also moving quickly on building similar facilities.
Just two weeks ago there was an announcement for a renewable diesel plant in Hastings, Nebraska, that is expected to produce 80 million gallons of renewable diesel annually.
We want to be part of the project to help lower emissions and increase competitiveness for Canadian clean fuels. Covenant Energy strongly believes that it can help meet both current and future demands for renewable diesel in Canada. We are excited about the opportunities that our processing plant will bring to the Prairies and the rest of Canada.
Thank you again for the opportunity to speak here today. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.