Sewage presents powerful potential
Iregional district turning biomass energy into usable electricity.
Once the sewage settles and is processed in any wastewater treatment plant, left behind is a heaping helping of biomass.
Normally this leftover from the treatment process is hauled off for disposal, but the Regional District of Nanaimo has eyed it up – or at least the methane it produces – as a reliable and sustainable fuel supply for heat and electricity production at the Greater Nanaimo Pollution Control Centre on Hammond Bay Road.
The Federation of Canadian Muni-cipalities agrees.
In 2006, the federation awarded a $350,000 grant to the regional district for field testing to determine the best cogeneration technology.
In 2008, after comparing potential cogeneration systems, part of the funding was applied to construct a working system at the pollution control centre.
Sean De Pol, manager of wastewater services, said the processing plant already uses 40 to 50 per cent of the gas to supply heat and hot water to the facility’s buildings and digesters that break down solid waste. The rest is flared off.
Before the end of this year, that waste gas will fuel a generator capable of producing 335 kilowatts – enough electricity to power approximately 250 homes.
Waste heat from the generator will be looped back into the heating system, which is similar to one already operating at the regional landfill on Cedar Road.
The building to house the electrical components of the system and foundation for the generator at the pollution control centre are already under construction.
“We expect power to be produced sometime in the fall, with it fully commissioned by the end of the year,” De Pol said.
The centre’s rated capacity is the equivalent of a population of 90,000 – the actual number of people served depends on the mix of private, commercial and industrial users – which is considered a medium-size processing plant.
“This facility is one of the first of its [size] in North America that has actually taken on a project like this,” De Pol said. “Because of that, it’s considered an innovative technology and that’s why we’ve receive substantial funding for this project.”
The RDN recently received its first $52,500 installment for 2010 from the FCM grant. The remainder will come throughout the year as the project is completed.
The total cost of the project is $2.95 million, of which $2.3 million is funded through a federal gas tax program, plus the $350,000 from the FCM. The remaining $300,000 will be paid by RDN taxpayers.
Posted on February 19th