Falls Creek, B.C. — Vancouver is looking to heat more homes and businesses within the area via its newly expanded energy centre.
At the heart of the city, the False Creek Neighbourhood Energy Utility (NEU) upgraded its energy centre by installing two new sewage-to-water heat pumps.
The NEU supplies centralized low-carbon heating to 47 buildings, representing over 10,000 residents. Individual buildings, instead of using traditional heating systems, are connected to the NEU, which features sewage-to-water heat pumps. As stated by the provincial government, “The new sewage-to-water heat pumps produce hot water at efficiencies of over three hundred percent, ensuring buildings stay warm, even on the coldest days of the year.”
Each of the two new heat pumps adds 3.3 megawatts of heating capacity, tripling the NEU’s sewage heat recovery capacity, reports the provincial government. The press release adds that, “The heat pumps deliver more than three units of thermal energy for every unit of electricity used, requiring less reliance on BC Hydro’s Integrated Power Grid.”
The project received $10.2 million through the CleanBC Communities Fund, with $4.6 million coming from the province of British Columbia and $5.6 million from the government of Canada.