Industry
News
Corner Brook District Heating
Project Moving Forward
With assistance of CA$125,000
($115,000) from the Newfoundland and
Labrador Green Fund, an engineering study
will bring Corner Brook, Nfld., another step
closer to a district energy system for the city.
This study represents the second phase of
the district heating project, following an
earlier feasibility study.
The initial feasibility study identified
Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Ltd. as the
prime energy source for the district heating
system. A large quantity of steam is released
through several processes at the mill. There
is also the opportunity to use steam directly
from the No. 7 boiler/cogeneration unit.
According to the study, there is spare boiler
and turbine generator capacity of 12. 8 MW
of heat available for the district heating
system. The proposed project also has the
potential to reduce greenhouse gases by
approximately 10,000 tonnes per year.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Green
Fund is a three-year, CA$25 million ($22.9
million) program supported by both the
federal and provincial governments. The
funding it provides supports projects geared
toward environmental sustainability and
reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Canada Moves Toward
Offset System
Canada’s Environment Minister Jim
Prentice announced June 10 that the government is taking an important step toward
setting up a carbon market in Canada by
moving forward with its Offset System for
Greenhouse Gases. The Offset System will
establish tradable credits and encourage
cost-effective domestic greenhouse gas
reductions in areas that will not be covered
by planned federal greenhouse gas regulations, like the forestry and agricultural sectors.
Potential offset projects could include, for
example, methane capture and destruction
from landfill gas, the creation of new forests
or agricultural soil management.
Companies subject to the greenhouse
gas emissions regulations will be able to
purchase offset credits on the carbon market
and use these credits for compliance with
their regulated targets. In addition, other
parties, such as small businesses and individuals, will be able to acquire and use these
credits to voluntarily offset the greenhouse
gas emissions from their activities.
The two draft guides published June 12
in the Canada Gazette propose rules and
guidance on the requirements and processes
used to generate offset credits and to verify
the eligible greenhouse gas reductions
achieved from a registered project; interested
parties had 60 days to comment on these
guidance documents. The release of these
two draft guides follows the publication of
the first draft guide in August 2008, which
proposed the rules and guidance to quantify
greenhouse gas reductions for projects in
Canada’s Offset System.
Publication of the final versions of all
three Offset System guides was planned
for fall 2009 after all comments had been
reviewed.
Kelowna, B.C., Looks at
District Energy
The Web site Kelowna.com reported
July 28 that the Kelowna, B.C., city council
had approved spending $20,000 from the
city’s energy reserve to study the feasibility
of district energy systems in the city’s
downtown area. The study will include an
examination of the potential for district
energy in Central Green and the Pandosy
Town Centre – both areas of the Kelowna
with the density needed to make the systems work. The council also approved
applying for a $10,000 grant from the
B.C. Ministry of Community Development
toward the project.
GE Engines Power Cogen
Plant for Greenhouses
Canadian government and business
leaders gathered July 10 near Lake Erie in
southern Ontario for the grand opening of
North America’s first General Electric-designed greenhouse cogeneration plant,
installed to generate more reliable on-site
power and heat for commercial greenhouses.
Great Northern Hydroponics, a division of
Detroit-based Soave Enterprises, installed
the 12 MW commercial greenhouse power
plant at Soave’s 55-acre tomato greenhouse
complex in Kingsville, Ont.
The high-efficiency power plant, powered by four of GE Energy’s Jenbacher gas
cogeneration modules, was among seven
natural gas-fueled combined heat and power
systems approved by the Ontario Power
Authority in 2006 to showcase how advanced
cogeneration technologies could help make
industrial plants more energy-independent,
improve local grid reliability and support
Canada’s clean and renewable energy goals.
Surplus power from the greenhouse
power plant is being sold to the local grid
under a 20-year contract with the Ontario
Power Authority. The plant supplies enough
electricity to Ontario’s transmission grid to
power 12,000-15,000 Canadian homes
annually. In addition to generating power
and heat to support greenhouse operations,
the power plant also treats the gas engines’
exhaust, enabling carbon dioxide from the
exhaust to be recycled and applied as a
special fertilizer to enhance greenhouse
crop production.
The cogeneration plant allows Soave
to control its greenhouse operating expenses
and improve its competitive position against
other growers in North America. The project
also will support Ontario’s renewable energy
goals as a high-efficiency, dispatchable
cogeneration project that is helping to integrate renewable energy projects into the grid.
The special CO2
fertilization/cogen-eration system was developed by GE Energy’s
Jenbacher gas engine business, which
operates a global horticultural applications
center of excellence in The Netherlands.
Second Round of U.K. District
Heating Funding
As reported Aug. 26 by Green
Building Press, a second round of funding
from the U.K.’s Homes and Communities
Agency has been allocated to seven district heating system projects. The total of
£ 8. 8 million ($13.9 million) in funding,
aimed at supporting the development of
low-carbon infrastructure, is the result of
a partnership with the Department of
Energy and Climate Change and Communities and Local Government.
