Revelstoke Community Energy Project

The Revelstoke Community Energy Project is a venture of the City of Revelstoke through its wholly owned subsidiary,the Revelstoke Community Energy Corporation (RCEC). RCEC will build a heating plant that will combust approximately7,000 tonnes of wood biomass residue annually in a state-of-the-art biomass boiler to provide hot water to heat DownieTimber Ltd’s dry kiln, as well as several buildings in the City of Revelstoke. The hot water will be distributed through adistrict heating system that will be constructed as part of the project. The project will displace approximately 1.5megawatt (MWt) of fossil fuel (propane) using wood “waste” that has no identified alternative use. The project will endthe use of some silo burners and many inefficient small-scale propane boilers. It is estimated that it will result in a net 40to 60 per cent process efficiency improvement (in energy capture, transmission and delivery), primarily because ofutilizing a state-of-the-art biomass combustor, renewable and locally sourced fuel, as well as offsetting energytransmission/transport losses. There will be greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions totalling 4,157 metric tonnes per year(T/yr.) from propane offsets, and there will be reductions in nitrogen oxide (NOX), sulphuric oxide (SOX) and particulatematter (PM). There are many forestry-based communities across the country that may be able to adopt this technologyand replicate the experience of Revelstoke.