Oshawa, Ontario: General Motors Canada and partners announced the completion August 31 of a $28 million cogeneration investment at the GM St. Catharines Propulsion Plant expected to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 70 per cent while protecting the engine and transmission plant from rising electricity and carbon costs.
L to R: Walter Sendzik, Mayor of St. Catharines, Jim Bradley, Regional Chair, Carolyne Watts, St. Catharines Propulsion Plant Director, St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens, Geordie Walker, CEO of Walker Industries, MP Chris Bittle, and David Paterson, GM Canada Vice President of Corporate and Environmental Affairs, celebrate the commissioning of the St. Catharines Propulsion Plant cogeneration facility. (Photo credit: Ann Power)
The 6.4-megawatt cogeneration project uses renewable landfill gas delivered by pipeline from the nearby Walker landfill to generate electricity from newly installed engines at the plant. GM will also recover the thermal energy to power and heat its St. Catharines Propulsion Plant.
With support from key partners such as the Ontario Centres of Excellence and Alectra Utilities, the project began with GM Canada’s purchase and installation of four 1.6MW engines in an existing (refurbished) building. The engines will provide 6.4MW of electrical power to the plant, representing approximately 35 per cent of the electrical demand at the site. In addition, waste heat produced by these engines will be captured and used by the existing industrial boilers that provide heat and power throughout the site.
Renewable landfill gas is now being received at the plant and the engines are in the process of being commissioned. The facility is to be running at full capacity by October 31, 2020.
“This cogeneration project demonstrates the power of local partnerships to deliver results that improve the bottom line, protect the environment and meet our sustainability targets,” said GM St. Catharines Plant Director Carolyne Watts.
“Walker and IGRS are pleased to be providing long term environmental solutions to local partners by utilizing landfill gas as a renewable energy resource,” said Geordie Walker, President and CEO of Walker Industries. “We are committed to converting waste into a resource and contributing to a sustainable future.”
The project was facilitated through partnerships with Alectra Utilities, Integrated Gas Recovery Services and the Ontario Centres of Excellence. It is the first complete renewable landfill gas industrial cogeneration system in Ontario delivering renewable landfill gas from an offsite source.
GM and its partners were joined at the event by Mayor Walter Sendzik, Niagara Regional Chair Jim Bradley and Local MP Chris Bittle.
GM has committed to power all of its global operations’ electricity needs with 100 per cent renewable energy by 2040.