Noventa Energy Partners announced the delivery of the world’s largest raw wastewater energy transfer project at Toronto Western Hospital. The $38 million project, funded in part by the Government of Canada and financed by Vancity Community Investment Bank, will generate enough thermal energy using raw municipal wastewater from a sewer to supply 90 per cent of the hospital’s heating and cooling requirements, reducing its carbon emissions by a quarter of a million tonnes.
“Wastewater is an untapped renewable energy source that is underutilized in North America. With the potential to supply over 350 billion kilowatt-hours of low carbon thermal energy, wastewater energy transfer can be used to heat and cool our buildings to help us meet our climate change commitments,” said Dennis Fotinos, CEO of Noventa. “We are delighted to partner with University Health Network to deliver the largest raw wastewater energy transfer project in the world at Toronto Western Hospital. This is one of the first projects of this scale to use raw municipal wastewater from a sewer to provide low carbon heating and cooling to a building, and serves as a testament to what can be done if we are prepared to challenge convention and reimagine energy to build a more sustainable future for all.”
Noventa will use patented HUBER ThermWin technology (for which it is the exclusive North American distributor) – and its own proprietary DFSCTM process – to harvest the energy in raw municipal wastewater flowing through a sewer, to provide the hospital with a source of clean, renewable energy. Over the next 30 years, Noventa’s wastewater energy transfer technology is expected to:
- supply 1.8 billion kilowatt-hours of energy to the hospital, or approximately 90% of the hospital’s space heating and cooling requirements.
- reduce the hospital’s carbon dioxide emissions by 250,000 tonnes – the equivalent of taking over 1,800 cars off the road yearly.
- save over 141 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, 130 million cubic meters of natural gas, and 1.3 billion litres of cooling water (the equivalent of 520 Olympic-sized swimming pools)
“University Health Network has long been a leader in healthcare environmental sustainability locally, nationally, and around the globe – which is why we’re excited to work with Noventa Energy Partners on the raw wastewater energy transfer project at Toronto Western Hospital,” said UHN’s president and CEO Dr. Kevin Smith.
Ryerson University will be working closely with Noventa and the University Health Network to conduct ongoing research, surveillance and wastewater sampling on the raw wastewater energy transfer project.
The project has secured funding from both the public and private sectors. The Government of Canada will invest $3.3 million from its Low Carbon Economy Fund, while VCIB – a subsidiary of Vancity Group and the only Canadian bank focused on supporting emerging and built environment climate solutions under $50 million – will provide financing of $9 million.
“The Government of Canada is pleased to support innovative projects that reduce emissions and create good jobs,” said Marci Ien, MP for Toronto Centre.
“This new wastewater project in Toronto is a great initiative that focuses on the need to address climate change in our everyday lives,” added Toronto’s Mayor John Tory.
Featured image: (Toronto Western Hospital/UHN)
