Enwave

Last updated
Enwave Energy Corporation
Company type Subsidiary
Industry District energy
PredecessorToronto District Heating Corporation
Founded1 January 1996  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Headquarters,
Area served
Downtown Toronto
Owner Ontario Teachers Pension Plan
Parent Ontario Teachers Pension Plan
Enwave steam plant and smoke stack viewed from Pearl and Simcoe Street. Enwave District Heating Plant in Toronto, ON.jpg
Enwave steam plant and smoke stack viewed from Pearl and Simcoe Street.
Enwave Energy in Toronto Enwave.JPG
Enwave Energy in Toronto

Enwave Energy Corporation is a Canadian multinational energy company based in Toronto that focuses on sustainable district energy including heating, cooling, hot water, combined heat and power, and geothermal energy systems. It is one of the largest district energy systems in North America and has been referred as the leading energy district system with 17 heating plants, 21 chilled water plants and ice on coil storage tanks. It serves over 700 customers including commercial properties, developers, municipalities, health care, educational centres and residential units. [1]

Contents

History

The company was originally established as the Toronto Hospitals Steam Corporation in 1969 to provide heating services for the Toronto General Hospital, the Hospital for Sick Children, New Mount Sinai Hospital and Women's College Hospital, [2] and later provided these services to other medical institutions, the University of Toronto and the provincial government. It was renamed as the Toronto District Heating Corporation in 1980, at which time it acquired the steam utility that was also being operated by Toronto Hydro. [3]

The corporation was privatized in 1998, with shares going to the province, the municipal government of Toronto, the University of Toronto and the four founding hospitals. [4] The corporation was renamed as Enwave in 1999. [5] Over time, only two shareholders remained: the city with 43%, and the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System with 57%. [5]

On October 2, 2012, Toronto City Council voted to sell its 43% stake in Enwave. [6] This followed an announcement that Brookfield Asset Management would acquire the entire company through a partnership. [7]

Notable projects

Deep Lake Water Cooling System

Enwave's Deep Lake Water Cooling (DLWC) is a system that harnesses the cold temperature at the bottom of Lake Ontario to cool hospitals, data centers, educational campuses, government buildings, commercial and residential buildings. Some customers include Toronto-Dominion Centre, Royal Bank Plaza, RBC Centre, Metro Toronto Convention Centre and Scotiabank Arena.

It utilizes three large pipes have been run 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) into Lake Ontario, to a depth of 83 metres. The water at that depth is a constant 4 °C, its temperature protected by a layer of water above it, called a thermocline. The water is piped to a filtration plant and then to a heat-transfer station on the lakeside. Here the chill is “transferred” to another closed loop, consisting of smaller pipes that supply the towers of the city's financial district. Built at a cost of C$230m ($200m) over four years, the system is run by the Enwave Energy Corporation. [8]

The cooling system is a clean, renewable, and reliable energy source. Compared to traditional air-conditioning, Deep Lake Water Cooling reduces electricity use by 75%, and will eliminate 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of taking 8,000 cars off the streets. [9]

Enwave draws cold water (4 °C/39 °F) from a depth of 83 metres (272 feet) below the surface of Lake Ontario. [10] Cold lake water is pumped through the source side of heat exchangers situated at Toronto's John Street Pumping Station while a glycol and water mixture is circulated through the load circuit of the heat exchanger, allowing for a net energy transfer from the water/glycol mixture to the lake water. The chiller glycol mixture is then circulated using pumps throughout fan-coil units installed in high-rise properties throughout the region served by Enwave in Downtown Toronto where is absorbs energy and repeats the cycle to provide cooling and dehumidification. This system is advantageous since it reduces, or even completely eradicates chiller usage during summer months and shoulder seasons, reducing energy usage, as well as minimizing the number of evaporative cooling towers from operating, which are susceptible to becoming breeding grounds for Legionella pneumophila.

This system was officially launched on August 17, 2004, at Steam Whistle Brewing, one of Enwave's customers. In support of Deep Lake Water Cooling (DLWC), the launch was attended by actor and renewable energy activist Alec Baldwin, Ontario Minister of Energy Dwight Duncan, Canadian Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Joe Volpe, and Toronto Deputy Mayor Sandra Bussin, among other business leaders and government officials. The launch coincided with the anniversary of the 2003 blackout. [9]

DLWC Expansion

In 2019, Enwave announced a C$100 million system expansion with C$10 million in federal funding from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change's Low Carbon Economy Challenge. [11]

The expansion of the DLWC supply could reduce demand on the electricity grid during peak times by up to 0.5 kW per ton of cooling load delivered, resulting in up to 70% peak demand savings in electricity compared to a mechanical chiller plant. The expansion will increase the capacity of the District Heat Recovery System, which produces up to 93% less carbon emissions compared to traditional heating technology. [12]

London CHP II

Enwave's London Energy Plant has 6 miles (9.7 kilometres) of steam pipes, 1.85 miles (2.98 kilometres) of chilled water pipes and has recently invested 50 million dollars to supply power to the provincial electricity grid through London's local grid.

In 2019, the Province of Ontario funded the system to expand and include an additional combined heat and power (CHP) system, 17 MW gas turbine, 4 MW condensing steam turbine, 1,451 metric tons of electric chillers. London Energy Plant now serves 60 customers, including St. Joseph's Health Care London. [13]

The Well

The Well is a visionary mixed-use development featuring more than 3 million square feet of retail, office and residential space. Enwave designed and installed a new state-of-the-art thermal storage facility underneath The Well, [14] consisting of a large temperature-controlled tank. The tank is fed by the DLWC system and has the capacity to hold 2 million gallons (7.6 million liters) of water. [15] As a thermal “battery,” the ingenious system can store energy at night during off-peak times, easing strain on the electricity grid and reducing costs. The system is efficient, resilient, and, with greater capacity, can now supply low-carbon heating and cooling to an additional 17 million square feet of space.

Prince Edward Island

With Federal support, Enwave is pursuing a project on Prince Edward Island which will divert an additional 23,000 tonnes of waste from landfill to generate energy, thus reducing harmful methane emissions. [16] The federal government is contributing $3.5 million to upgrade and expand a 35-year-old waste-to-energy system in Charlottetown. [17] The upgrade will include a larger furnace, the addition of a heat recovery boiler and air pollution controls.

Through the life of the project it could, on average, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 75,000 tonnes a year.

New Orleans

In 2005, hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure in New Orleans. Electrical substations were flooded and the city lost power for several weeks. Throughout the disaster, Enwave's district energy plant, maintained service to Louisiana's largest health care and medical research center. As the only functioning facility with power and cooling, it also served as a hub for FEMA workers. Louisiana State University subsequently commissioned Enwave to design, build and operate a future-proof system with the same level of reliability and redundancy to provide critical medical services through a disaster. The plant is designed to be failproof: built to withstand hurricane-force winds and a 20-foot storm surge, with all critical equipment located 20 feet above grade. It also features emergency backup generation and an innovative 55,000 ton-hour “ice battery” to store energy, allowing the plant to operate for seven full days off-grid in the event of a disaster. [18] After hurricane Katrina, Enwave expanded its service in New Orleans beyond the medical district. Enwave constructed a new steam plant in 2014 to serve an additional 22 buildings in the business core. Its three 70,000-lb/hr natural gasfired boilers produce steam for distribution to 22 buildings totaling 4.1 million sq ft for space heating, domestic hot water, laundry and sterilization use. [19] Construction of the $28 million steam plant was completed on budget and two months ahead of schedule. The plant won the DBIA National Award of Merit and the ENR Best Projects for Texas and Louisiana Award of Merit. [20]

Sustainability

Enwave also helped solidify LEED certification applications for its customers. Enwave customers One York Street in Toronto achieved LEED Platinum certification, [21] and in Chicago Aon Center holds a LEED Silver certification. [22]

The United Nations initiative called “United 4 Sustainable Smart Cities” published a study titled “Deep Lake Water Cooling: its origins and the next evolution” [23] about Enwave's DLWC system. The study speaks of the origins of Deep Lake Water Cooling, Enwave's current impact, plans for a 4th intake, integration of thermal storage at The Well, and how Enwave is integrating heat pumps to create a community energy sharing network at scale to provide resilient, low carbon heating and cooling.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar energy</span> Radiant light and heat from the Sun, harnessed with technology

Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy, and solar architecture. It is an essential source of renewable energy, and its technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on how they capture and distribute solar energy or convert it into solar power. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic systems, concentrated solar power, and solar water heating to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light-dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heat pump</span> System that transfers heat from one space to another

A heat pump is a device that consumes work to transfer heat from a cold heat sink to a hot heat sink. Specifically, the heat pump transfers thermal energy using a refrigeration cycle, cooling the cool space and warming the warm space. In cold weather, a heat pump can move heat from the cool outdoors to warm a house ; the pump may also be designed to move heat from the house to the warmer outdoors in warm weather. As they transfer heat rather than generating heat, they are more energy-efficient than other ways of heating or cooling a home.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geothermal energy</span> Thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth

Geothermal energy is thermal energy extracted from the Earth's crust. It combines energy from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay. Geothermal energy has been exploited as a source of heat and/or electric power for millennia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Power station</span> Facility generating electric power

A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Distributed generation</span> Decentralised electricity generation

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental impact of electricity generation</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cogeneration</span> Simultaneous generation of electricity and useful heat

Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiller</span> Machine that removes heat from a liquid coolant via vapor compression

A chiller is a machine that removes heat from a liquid coolant via a vapor-compression, adsorption refrigeration, or absorption refrigeration cycles. This liquid can then be circulated through a heat exchanger to cool equipment, or another process stream. As a necessary by-product, refrigeration creates waste heat that must be exhausted to ambience, or for greater efficiency, recovered for heating purposes. Vapor compression chillers may use any of a number of different types of compressors. Most common today are the hermetic scroll, semi-hermetic screw, or centrifugal compressors. The condensing side of the chiller can be either air or water cooled. Even when liquid cooled, the chiller is often cooled by an induced or forced draft cooling tower. Absorption and adsorption chillers require a heat source to function.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fossil fuel power station</span> Facility that burns fossil fuels to produce electricity

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heating plant</span> Infrastructure for generating thermal energy for use in district heating

A heating plant, also called a physical plant, or steam plant, generates thermal energy in the form of steam for use in district heating applications. Unlike combined heat and power installations which produce thermal energy as a by-product of electricity generation, heating plants are dedicated to generating heat for use in various processes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">District cooling</span> Delivery of chilled water to building needing cooling

District cooling is the cooling equivalent of district heating. Working on broadly similar principles to district heating, district cooling delivers chilled water to buildings like offices and factories. In winter, the source for cooling can often be seawater, so it is a cheaper resource than electricity to run compressors for cooling. Alternatively, district cooling can be provided by a Heat Sharing Network which enables each building on the circuit to use a heat pump to reject heat to an ambient ground temperature circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geothermal power in the United Kingdom</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep Lake Water Cooling System</span> Water and air cooling project in Toronto, Canada

The Deep Lake Water Cooling System or DLWC is a deep water source cooling project in Toronto, Canada. As a renewable energy project, it involves running cold water from Lake Ontario to air-conditioned buildings located in downtown Toronto.

References

  1. Syed, Fatima (January 10, 2019). "Ottawa gives Ontario company $10 million to help cool Toronto buildings". National Observer.
  2. The Toronto Hospitals Steam Corporation Act, 1968-69 , S.O. 1968-69, c. 131
  3. The Toronto District Heating Corporation Act, 1980 , S.O. 1980, c. 73
  4. The Toronto District Heating Corporation Act, 1998 , S.O. 1998, c. 15, Sch. C
  5. 1 2 Stevenson, Don; Gilbert, Richard (October 21, 2012). "Robert Tamblyn inspired Toronto's innovative Enwave cooling system". The Toronto Star .
  6. Kevin Misener and John Stall. "City council votes to sell stake in Enwave". 680 News.com. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  7. "PRESS RELEASE: Borealis Infrastructure Agrees to Sell Its Interest in Enwave to Brookfield". Marketwire. OMERS . Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  8. "A cool concept". The Economist. April 24, 2007.
  9. 1 2 "'Energy of the future' flows into downtown Toronto" . Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  10. "An answer for the heat? Cool clear water" . Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  11. Canada, Environment and Climate Change (2019-01-10). "Government of Canada supporting Canadian innovation through the Low Carbon Economy Challenge". gcnws. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  12. "Deep Lake Water Cooling Supply Expansion". City of Toronto. 2020-01-31. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  13. Daniszewski, Hank (August 12, 2018). "District Energy plant shifts gears on expansion". London Free Press.
  14. Pittis, Don (January 27, 2020). "Giant Canadian construction project incorporates low carbon heating and cooling: Don Pittis". CBC.
  15. "A new downtown neighbourhood rises at The Well". thestar.com. 2020-03-05. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  16. Chung, Emily (December 3, 2019). "Solar? Geothermal? Garbage? 6 climate-friendly ways to heat and cool buildings". CBC.
  17. Davis, Tony (March 11, 2019). "Upgrade for Island waste-to-energy system aims to curb oil consumption, increase energy production". CBC.
  18. Innovasium. "Case Studies: Louisiana State University gains greater reliability, resiliency in New Orleans". www.enwave.com. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  19. "From recovery to resilience". mobileservices.texterity.com. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  20. "KEEPING THE POWER ON DURING FUTURE DISASTERS" (PDF). Burns McDonnell.
  21. "One York Street achieves LEED Platinum certification - constructconnect.com". Daily Commercial News. 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  22. "StackPath". www.contractormag.com. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  23. "U4SSC Case study: Energy efficiency in buildings, June 2020". www.itu.int. Retrieved 2020-07-24.