Sapperton District Energy System Open House #2

Knox Presbyterian Church Thursday | June 19 | 2014

What is a District Energy System?

Derived from clean, renewable energy systems

Stable and reliable

Provided to customers at costs comparable to conventional energy

Seeks to protect customers from unforeseen spikes in cost of energy

Presentation Boards Project Information

Surrey City Centre District Energy

Why is the City considering district energy?

City policy supports the development of clean, low-emission renewable energy systems

Investment in sustainable infrastructure

Large reduction in annual GHG emissions

Reduce reliance on fossil fuels

Diversify New Westminster Electric Utility revenue sources

Sapperton District Energy System Policy Context

Royal Columbian Hospital Residential / Commercial

Existing steam plant at end-of-life New boiler plant proposed for hospital expansion

Residential – Gas DHW + Makeup Air, Electric Baseboards in suites Commercial – Gas Boilers

100% Natural Gas 70% Natural Gas + 30% Electricity

A benchmark for comparison with renewable energy options

Business as Usual Heating Reference Case

Sapperton District Energy System Four Key Components

Renewable Energy Centre Peak Heating Boilers

Distribution Piping Heat Exchangers

Wood Chip (Biomass) Heating Hi-efficiency boilers use wood chips as fuel to produce hot water heating. Fuel source is woody residue from local land clearing mixed with clean, chipped wood from deconstructed buildings.

Sewage Heat Recovery Recovery of energy using heat pumps from Metro Vancouver's sanitary sewer trunk near Sapperton. Recovered energy is used to heat water for distribution to buildings.

Sapperton District Energy System Renewable Heating Options

Commercial Boilers – Multiple Units

Combustor / Gasifier – Twin Units

Combustor / Gasifier – Single Unit

UBC

Enderby, BC

Seattle, WA

Wood Chip Heating Biomass Plant Configurations

Sewage Heat Recovery How it Works

Raw Sewage

Grit / Grease Removal Chamber

2 mm Screens

Sewage Pumps

High-Temperature Heat Pumps (LWT 75 ºC to 80 ºC)

Chilled Sewage

Hot Water

Sapperton District Energy System DES Concept and Service Area

Three Phases, Components A, B, and C.

If all three components completed, would include the following:

Replacement of the existing steam heating system to accommodate a hot water heating system.

New acute care tower, mental health building and energy centre

Renovation to existing buildings

Royal Columbian Hospital Redevelopment Project

NEW RCH

POWER PLANT

N e w M e n t a l H e a l t h C e n t r e

N e w P a r k a d e , H e l i p a d

N e w E n e r g y P l a n t

Royal Columbian Hospital ‘Component A’ Expansion

Royal Columbian Hospital Redevelopment Planning

Oct-Dec 2013: City + Fraser Health Authority (FHA) + engineering consultants (KWL) jointly developed a 30-year lifecycle model for the a District Energy System (DES) based on a common set of commodity forecasts, operating and capital cost assumptions. Evaluation included both on-site sewer heat recovery at RCH as well as off-site renewable energy options at City site in Braid Industrial Area.

Sapperton Green Transit-Oriented Development

Major redevelopment of former industrial site

Green mixed residential / commercial development (3.3-million ft2)

14 MW Peak Heat Demand

Brewery District Potential future connection of buildings #5 to #8

Sapperton District Energy System Annual Heat Demand Forecast

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045

An

nu

al E

ne

rgy

Use

(M

Wh

/yr)

RCH Brewery District Sapperton Green Neighbourhood

6 %

3 %

Sapperton Green 35 %

RCH 56 %

Renewable energy on-stream 2019-20

CONCLUSION: Relative to other wood chip combustors, a two-stage biomass boiler would generate fewer emissions and may be able to achieve the particulate requirements of Metro Vancouver’s By-Law 1087 with just an electrostatic precipitator.

Natural gas (peaking) boilers should be at least a low NOx boiler type due to the fact that the air shed is already near the Metro Vancouver Ambient Air Quality Objective (AAQO) levels for NOx.

Air Quality Impact Study

Emission Type BAU

Conventional Heating

Biomass (grate

burner)

Biomass (two-stage combustor)

Biomass (fluidized

bed)

Sewer Heat

Recovery

Filterable PM2.5 0.07 22.29 6.56 8.51 0.02

Filterable PM10 0.07 25.85 7.60 9.87 0.02

Filterable PM 0.07 29.41 8.65 11.23 0.02

Carbon Monoxide (CO) 9.64 56.90 9.62 18.44 3.05

Nitrous Oxides (NOx) 11.38 23.68 10.34 19.87 3.60

Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) 0.070 2.25 2.25 2.25 0.02

VOC 0.63 1.74 1.74 1.71 0.20

Greenhouse Gases (tonnes CO2 e)

13,587 4,964 4,964 4,964 4,301

Air Quality Impact Study Estimated Emissions at Full Buildout of System

Clean wood waste recovered from construction / demolition / land clearing sources (aim for 25-30% moisture content)

Electrostatic precipitator to remove particulates (> 90% efficient)

Air Quality Impact Study recommends two-stage combustion (or equivalent performance) to achieve minimum particulate emissions, as well as lower CO and NOx emissions

Air Quality Impact Study Biomass Fuel and Emissions Control

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_precipitator#mediaviewer/File:Elektrofilter_Maria_Gugging.jpg

Wood chip fuel storage at UBC Bioenergy Research Facility Electrostatic Precipitator

Economic Considerations

Component Reference Case (Business as Usual)

Wood Chip Heating

Sewer Heat Recovery

Capital Costs 15% 30% 36%

Commodity and Other Variable Costs

65% 35% 38%

Fixed Operating and Maintenance Costs

20% 35% 26%

30-Year Lifecycle Cost Breakdown (% of total lifecycle costs)

How could the system be financed?

As with any major utility investment, low-interest loans would cover the capital investment in plant and equipment, as well as the distribution piping network.

To keep heating rates affordable for the customers, costs would be recovered over the life of the plant and equipment, typically 30 years.

The utility rate charged to customers would pay for the loan plus interest costs on the capital investment, as well as operation and maintenance costs during the life of the system.

Triple Bottom Line Considerations

Owner Customers

Cost of Energy

Local Air Quality

Trucks, Noise, Odours

Financial Viability

GHG Emissions

Job Creation

Net increase in clean

energy jobs

Avoid 8,200+ tonnes

GHGs/year

Financially viable with

some ROI to owner

On par with conventional energy prices

(or better)

Limited capacity in

local airshed for particulate

emissions

Plant situated in industrial

area, two trucks per day

Work In Progress Developing the District Energy Business Case

DES Business Case

These project tasks will inform the business case to be developed this year

Draft report with recommendations ready by end of summer 2014

Financial Model Due

Diligence

Further Analytical Work +

Preliminary Rate Design

Initial MOU development

Community Consultation

Stakeholder Engagement

Air Quality Impact Study

Governance & Ownership

considerations

Service Area Bylaw &

Rezoning Req’s

Grant funding / low

interest financing

Questions and Discussion

Norm Connolly Community Energy Manager City of New Westminster nconnolly@newwestcity.ca 604-527-4572

Mark Allison Manager, Strategic Initiatives & Sustainability City of New Westminster mallison@newwestcity.ca 604-527-4653

Rod Carle General Manager Electric Utility rcarle@newwestcity.ca 604-527-4569