On October 26, members of the Canadian District Energy team gathered along with Corix CEO, Lisa Sparrow, at Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) campus in Burnaby, BC for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the official opening of the Burnaby Mountain District Energy Utility Renewable Energy Facility.
Nearly two years after first firing up the boilers, the team gathered with members from SFU and many of the 35+ consulting, trade, and contracting companies who helped bring this significant project to fruition.
“This facility and the connected distribution networks are a true demonstration of how renewable-based district energy can be scaled alongside and into both new and existing customers bases over time in a financially responsible manner,” said Travis Hickford-Kulak, SVP, Canada. “Huge thanks go out to everyone who helped our organization realize this tremendous achievement.”
The project began with a feasibility study and SFU and Corix signed an agreement to build the Renewable Energy Facility in 2017. The agreement expanded service of Corix’s existing district energy system from the nearby residential UniverCity community to also meet the thermal energy needs of SFU’s academic campus. Construction of the $33-million biomass plant began in 2018 and operations commenced on October 19, 2020.
The Burnaby Mountain District Energy Utility utilizes clean wood waste to provide heat and hot water to most of SFU’s Burnaby campus and approximately half of the UniverCity community – nearly 10,000 residents and an additional 30,000 SFU students, staff and faculty in total. As a result, SFU has cut its greenhouse gases by more than 50 percent from 2007 levels, and now realizes savings of 11,600 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
