The CHP system will be located at UBC’s Vancouver campus, where it will provide clean, renewable heat and electricity for the campus, while offering a platform for bioenergy research.
The companies said that the new CHP system combines Nexterra gasification and syngas conditioning technologies with a GE Jenbacher gas engine. Woody biomass will be gasified and converted into clean synthetic gas that will be directly fired into a gas engine.
The companies claimed that the CHP system will be capable of providing high net efficiencies – up to 65% in cogeneration mode. The system will produce renewable heat and power while surpassing Metro Vancouver’s air quality standards.
The system will produce 2MW of cleanelectricity that is expected to offset UBC’s existing power consumption. This is the equivalent electricity required to power about 1500 homes. The system will also generate enough steam to displace up to 12% of the natural gas that UBC uses for campus heating, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 4500 tonnes per year.
Stephen Toope, president of UBC, said: “This project demonstrates UBC’s leadership in sustainability and our concept of the campus as a living laboratory. This groundbreaking partnership is helping UBC achieve its sustainability goals through the convergence of research, operations and industry in the bioenergy sphere.”
UBC is also collaborating with FPInnovations to house the CHP System in a building designed and constructed using cross-laminate timber (CLT). CLT is a solid wood building material that can be used as a low carbon, renewable alternative to steel frame construction.
