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Introduction
If you operate an Alberta oil battery that still vents or flares solution gas, you already know the writing is on the wall. Directive 060 from the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) obliges producers to conserve, combust, or shut in volumes that can sustain a continuous flame. Flaring that once flew under the radar now attracts regulatory audits, public-relations headaches, and—soon—administrative penalties.
The pressure is only increasing. In 2023, industry flared 766.8 × 10^6 m³ of solution gas—14 % above the province-wide cap. Producers who stay the course risk higher compliance costs and tighter operating limits.
The WRM Zero-CAPEX Model
We designed our flare-gas solution for oil batteries with consistent gas production but no tie-in pipeline:
- Generator Rental, Not Purchase – You rent a high-efficiency reciprocating generator sized to your steady-state flare volume. No cap-ex, no depreciation.
- Gas-to-Power Conversion – The generator consumes your solution gas on site, eliminating flaring while adding only minor daytime noise.
- Power-Purchase Agreement (PPA) – You sell every kilowatt-hour to Wild Rose Mining on a variable-rate schedule linked to monthly uptime.
- Steady Load – We place a modular Bitcoin data-center at the fence line, providing a 24/7 baseload so the engine never needs to idle or ramp.
Uptime matters.
- Break-even on rental ≈ 80 % runtime.
- 100 % runtime → ≈ 50 % margin on your rental bill.
Because the PPA floats with uptime, you never pay for fuel or maintenance you don’t use; all upside, no downside.
Why It Beats Flaring Under Directive 060
| Pain Point under Directive 060 | WRM Solution |
|---|---|
| Prove gas is “non-conservable” or pay to conserve | Conservation is automatic—gas becomes electricity |
| Annual volume reporting & potential fees | Generator logs kWh exported; compliance paperwork drops |
| Public pressure to cut methane | Closed-loop combustion achieves >99 % CH₄ destruction |
| Capital needed for pipelines or vapour recovery | $0 CAPEX—only a short-term rental contract |
Directive 060 explicitly ranks conservation as the preferred option and allows combustion only when conservation is uneconomic or unsafe. By turning flare gas into a marketable product—electricity—you meet the directive’s first-choice outcome without tying up your balance sheet.
Economic Snapshot (Typical 120 MCF/d Skid)
| Item | Unit | 80 % Uptime | 100 % Uptime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generator rental | $/mo | –Cost | –Cost |
| Power sold to WRM¹ | $/mo | ≈ Cost | ≈ 1.5 Cost |
| Net cash flow | $/mo | ≈ 0 | +0.5 * Cost |
¹Price schedule indexed to AECO minus transport, settled monthly.
ESG & Future-Proofing
- Methane intensity drops to near zero, improving corporate-level Scope 1 metrics.
- No stranded-gas liabilities on A&D—sites with power sales fetch higher valuations.
- Community optics: visible flame disappears; noise is <60 dB at 100 m, meeting rural guidelines.
TLDR
Rent a generator, burn your flare gas, sell the power to us, and pocket up to 50 % profit over the rental cost—while meeting Directive 060 conservation requirements with zero capital outlay.
Ready to turn waste into revenue? Contact WRM and let’s turn liabilities into assets—today.
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