Downtown Sydney Low-carbon District Energy System

In partnership with the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM), Enwave Energy Corporation will conduct a study to explore the feasibility of a low-carbon district energy system for downtown Sydney, Nova Scotia. The system would provide an affordable, low-carbon supply of thermal energy and possibly electricity to buildings along the waterfront and in the downtown core, resulting in reduced GHG emissions and improved energy efficiency. The district energy system would complement and accelerate concurrent plans to revitalize Sydney’s downtown core, supporting the 2014 Waterfront Revitalization Plan and the 2017 Downtown Sydney Revitalization Plan. It would also align with recommendations for reducing GHG emissions made in the 2010 Integrated Community Sustainability Plan, and in the 2011 Municipal Climate Change Action Plan. The planned feasibility study will evaluate renewable and residual energy resources for integration into the district energy system, including ocean water cooling, geo-exchange, sewage heat recovery, waste-to-energy, solar thermal, digester gas from the sewage treatment plant, and heat recovered from process cooling and ice rink refrigeration. The anticipated environmental benefits of the district energy system are outlined below. Estimates are based on Enwave’s experience with district systems in other jurisdictions, and actual projections for GHG emissions reductions and efficiency improvements will be confirmed during the study. Anticipated benefits include: • A reduction of GHG emissions by more than 50% in the short-term compared to business as usual. The district energy system would also lay the groundwork for reaching the target of an 80% reduction by 2050. • Significantly reduced energy consumption per building, as the efficiency of the energy supply will be much higher. Using heat pumps, renewable energy, and recovered energy, it is expected that the system will be able to improve heating and cooling supply efficiency by more than 40% compared to the business as usual scenario. Specifically, it is expected the Port Building (74 Esplanade), the Civic Centre (320 Esplanade) and the former DFO Building (90 Esplanade) will immediately reduce their energy consumption by more than 40% after connecting to the system. In addition, the project’s social and economic objectives include creating an affordable and secure energy supply to attract new businesses to Sydney’s downtown, and generating local employment. The project also aims to increase municipal revenue streams while decreasing facility maintenance costs for the municipality. The project has strong knowledge sharing potential. Successful implementation of a low-carbon district energy system in Sydney will demonstrate to other municipalities the ability of district energy systems to drive significant reductions in GHG emissions. The project also involves the development of a public-private partnership model in which Enwave takes on a leadership role in seeking and building lasting partnerships with Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Enwave will provide patient capital, technical and project management expertise, and the municipal partner will provide planning authority, policy direction, and municipal assets. This model may provide learnings for municipalities that face barriers to developing district energy systems, related to technical expertise and capital costs. The project could also increase awareness of district energy options for small municipalities. (Project description from original funding application)