Community Energy System Followup Report

By 250 News

Prince George, B.C. –  While Councilor Deborah Munoz failed to stop the Community Energy System from being developed in the bowl area of the City, (that motion was defeated by Council  at the last meeting)  she did  get City Staff working on some other ideas.

Her other recommendations called for :

An evaluation of heat sources from existing industry as an alternative to a biomass energy system.

The answer from Administration is that while such sources had been pursued in the past, it is only now that industry has shown any interest in moving to biomass energy. ( In fact, Canfor Pulp has indicated it is considering biomass energy production as a clean energy source to provide power to the B.C. Hydro grid.) Administration says  it is “actively evaluating potential industry solutions which may provide a preferred solution to a “stand alone” communityenergy system.  Those solutions include looking at   the type of system Nexterra develops.

There  are some funding concerns, as the Western Economic Diversification has indicated the $5.3 million grant approved to the City under the Municipal Rural Infrastructure Program must be used prior to March 31, 2010.

Discussions with industry toward a potential solution must respect the completion date.

Mayor Colin Kinsley says  a  public private partnership is also being explored and he indicated when he first  met with Nexterra a year ago that is the kind of  project that was being  proposed.

Nexterra's technology has gasification of bio mass as opposed to the use of combustion.

Councillor Munoz also asked that a geo thermal solution be evaluated. 

Administration has not conducted such an evaluation saying the funding applications have all been focused on the use of biomass fuel sources because of the desire to take advantage of the fibre inventory and the impact of the Mountain Pine Beetle.  “Communication with Western Economic Diversification suggests that significant challenge from the biomass based aspects of the original proposal would not be encouraged, with respect to grant funding eligibility.” 

The fourth recommendation called for the identification of properties which include District Heating plants as a permitted use.   Under the zoning bylaws, district heating plants would be referred to as “Major utility” and that is allowed in several zoning districts.

The results indicate there are more than 1300 properties in the city which  have zoning for “major utility” so  staff are now exploring   special zoning for a  heating system, not unlike the special zoning  that is in place for asphalt plants.

Administration also presented the "Community Energy Reference Guide" which outlines the City’s case for developing a community energy system and the  next steps .  The reference guide will be posted on the City’s Community Energy System  page of the City’s website.

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