Summary

Metro Vancouver is turning an overlooked resource—waste heat from sources including sewage and solid waste—into a powerful solution for sustainable energy. By developing an innovative policy and implementation guide, the region is paving the way for the creation of district energy facilities that convert this waste heat into usable energy, reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Recognized with a 2024 Sustainable Communities Award in the community energy category, this innovative initiative is already sparking the development of several district energy projects, all of which hold significant potential for cutting emissions.

“When we set up these kinds of projects, they run for a long time. We’re looking at extracting heat from both of these sources for many, many decades.” 

– Jeff Carmichael, Division Manager, Business Development, Liquid Waste Services, Metro Vancouver

Background

Metro Vancouver is a regional district whose responsibilities include waste reduction and recycling planning as well as operating a series of facilities that provide wastewater collection and treatment services and solid waste recycling and disposal services for residents and businesses in the region. As a region, Metro Vancouver is North American leader with a 65 percent solid waste recycling rate, more than twice the Canadian average. As part of Metro Vancouver’s aim to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and to promote a circular economy, the organization has been exploring ways to reduce the use of fossil fuels and make better use of available materials. One key to success is building district energy systems—centralized infrastructure for heating or cooling—that transform sewage and solid waste combustion waste heat into usable energy. These facilities have the potential to heat 300,000 homes in the region in the long term and to significantly lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  

The challenge

Metro Vancouver wanted to develop a framework that would make it easier for member municipalities to use regionally available sewer waste heat to develop district energy systems to help lower their emissions and reach their climate goals, while offering financial support to help projects get off the ground and navigate local constraints.

In addition, the organization’s existing Waste-to-Energy Facility in Burnaby, B.C., processes approximately one-quarter of the region’s garbage and already generates enough electricity for 16,000 homes. With the addition of district energy, this facility could triple its energy efficiency and be able to provide heat and hot water for up to 50,000 homes and reduce emissions by 70,000 tonnes of CO2e per year.

The approach

The Sewage and Waste: Heat Recovery Policy went through numerous iterations starting in 2014 before its most recent version was finalized and approved in 2022. The policy’s purpose is to enable and encourage heat recovery from the region’s liquid and solid waste systems. It provides practical guidelines for enabling, funding and implementing energy recovery projects to support climate action and addresses a number of topics including:

• who owns and is responsible for what
• how the value of carbon reduction can be integrated into the business case for district energy projects
• how to cost district energy systems over their life cycle

New energy projects are expensive to build, and significant capital is required to get them off the ground. To help enable development, Metro Vancouver is committing funds, investing in heat recovery infrastructure and setting up contracts to help offset initial costs.

“Once we got everyone to agree to the policy, then it was much easier to move the individual projects forward.” 

– Jeff Carmichael, Division Manager, Business Development, Liquid Waste Services, Metro Vancouver

Current and potential results

Two sewer (or effluent heat) recovery projects have been approved so far, and the Board has approved capital contributions for three different district heating projects that will use heat from municipal sewer systems. Several more sewer heat recovery projects are under development or assessment. Some specific current and future results include:

Environmental:

• Adding a district energy system to Burnaby’s existing Waste-to-Energy Facility has the potential to triple its energy recovery efficiency and reduce annual GHG emissions by up to 70,000 tCO2e.
• Six sewer heat recovery projects currently underway across Greater Vancouver have the potential to reduce annual emissions by 45,000 tCO2e.
• In all, there is the potential in Metro Vancouver to use sewage to heat 100,000 homes and reduce annual emissions by 250,000 tCO2e.  

Economic:

• The projects are creating jobs in the clean energy sector.
• District energy systems insulate users from future increases in energy prices, and reduce reliance on natural gas and electricity.  

Social:

• The projects will be providing energy to a diverse set of communities. The Sen̓áḵw district energy project, for instance, is in part a First Nations–led initiative that will provide low-carbon, sustainable energy for more than 6,000 rental units in the City of Vancouver.  

Lessons learned

There is low awareness and understanding of district energy systems. Metro Vancouver is undertaking a variety of educational and outreach activities to address this, including public consultation and engagement with municipalities.

It’s important to be adaptive: the policy has been revised and expanded three times to meet evolving needs. For example, it is thanks to policy expansion that Metro Vancouver can now take part in projects as a funding partner. The implementation guide the team created has undergone a similar process, with new and updated information added as required by project partners.

Next steps

Construction on a district energy facility using waste heat from the Waste-to-Energy Facility in Burnaby is slated to begin in early 2025. As for sewer heat recovery projects, capital commitments are currently in place for four projects, with detailed contracts on two of them expected to be signed in 2025.

Quotes

“Engage with your potential partners early on. The people who might be building these district energy systems need to understand what those ground rules might look like.” 

– Jeff Carmichael, Division Manager, Business Development, Liquid Waste Services, Metro Vancouver

“By providing heating through a district energy system, you’re better utilizing a resource that's currently going to waste.” 

– Sarah Wellman, Senior Engineer, Solid Waste Services, Metro Vancouver