Vancouver: Corix Multi-Utility Services Inc. announced July 6 that it had signed an agreement with Simon Fraser University to expand the existing district energy utility and move forward with a proposed Central Energy Plant on Burnaby Mountain in partnership with both SFU and the SFU Community Trust. The new facility will provide both SFU and the UniverCity community with green, thermal energy.
The district energy system will produce energy using locally sourced biomass that would otherwise be destined for local landfills. It could include urban wood waste (from tree cuttings and trimmings), uncontaminated wood waste (such as wood chips from sawmills and shavings), and clean construction wood waste. Using biomass in a district energy system will bring significant benefits to SFU, Burnaby Mountain and the City of Burnaby.
With the agreement signed, the next step for the project will be public consultation, which is expected to begin this fall. The results of those efforts will feed into the required municipal and provincial regulatory processes. If all approvals are received in 2017, construction could begin early in 2018, which would allow the facility to be operational by early 2019.