How district energy works

District energy systems generally produce steam, hot water or chilled water at central plants and then pipe that energy into the community for

Buildings connected to district energy systems have lower capital costs for their energy equipment as they can eliminate conventional boilers, chillers or air conditioners, saving valuable upfront dollars that can be invested elsewhere. In addition, they free up building space that can be used for other requirements.

 

The advantage of a district energy system is that by serving several customers from one location, it can provide better system efficiency, cost benefits, and flexibility than individual building systems. For instance, district energy systems can utilize combined heat and power or renewable energy such as geoexchange or biomass and they can more easily substitute new energy sources as more advanced technologies emerge. Potential energy sources are detailed below.

By capturing heat from the earth, water or waste heat sources, a geoexchange system can transport heat from where it is generated to where it is needed.

 

In order to recover the heat, heat exchangers are placed around various heat sources extracting the heat which is then transported
to the buildings requiring the energy. Waste heat sources can include refrigeration (ice rinks, grocery stores), waste water effluent, and sewers.

Biomass power plants can generate energy from biological material including

Biomass systems can provide both heat and power. In the simplest method of converting biomass into energy, organic matter is burned in a boiler to make steam which then turns a turbine. The turbine is connected to a generator that then produces electricity.

 

Heat generated in the process can be distributed to multiple nearby buildings for heating and service hot water. As biomass decomposes naturally it releases carbon dioxide. Modern techniques for burning biomass result in no net increase in carbon dioxide.

Sewer and landfill gas are generated by decomposition of organic material. The decomposition process produces methane which can be

Terasen Gas is investigating this potential by participating in a project to build a biogas purification system at the Lions Gate Wastewater Treatment Plant in North Vancouver.

Terasen is actively involved in district energy projects within BC.