Integrated Site Energy Plans for 2 Wastewater Treatment Plants

The City of Windsor is proposing to undertake an Integrated Site Energy Plan (ISEP) for two wastewater treatment plants: the Little River Pollution Control Plant; and the Lou Romano Water Reclamation Plant. An ISEP is essentially a neighbourhood community energy plan for each of the facilities. The plan would not only look at the individual equipment but would also review treatment plant processes to identify complementary gains. The ISEP will provide a list of actions that will move the plants towards a net zero energy (NZE) future and reduce GHG emissions. The development of the ISEPs will look at various best management strategies including those technological and operational in nature. The plans will identify strategies for energy conservation, improved energy efficiency, on-site renewable energy generation, etc. with the goal of working towards achieving ‘net-zero’ energy and significantly reducing GHG emissions associated with both plants. The study will look at operational and capital needs and costs, potential for GHG reductions, capacity, public/private partnerships, and district energy and sharing opportunities. Triple bottom line and life cycling costs will be considered during the development of the proposed strategies.The benefits to the City will include a long term sustainable strategy for wastewater treatment and energy use. Additionally, this will assist in reducing the overall operational costs thereby controlling costs for rate payers.The study supports the City’s Community Energy Plan and Corporate Climate Action Plan while also supporting Provincial and Federal initiatives. The Pan Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change identifies generating fuels from bioenergy and bioproducts, which will be explored as a possibility under this study. This study also supports Ontario’s Five Year Climate Change Action Plan strategy to reduce emissions from waste and move Ontario towards a circular economy.