University of British Columbia to Install Biomass Power Plant for Campus Energy

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The University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, B.C., Canada, this week reports that it will install and demonstrate an on-site biomass-fueled combined heat and power (CHP) system developed by Vancouver-based Nexterra and GE Power & Water's gas engine division. 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 new CHP system, the first of its kind in North America, combines Nexterra gasification and syngas conditioning technologies with a GE high efficiency Jenbacher gas engine. Woody biomass will be gasified and converted into clean synthetic gas (or "syngas") that will be directly fired into a gas engine. It will be capable of providing very 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 2 MW of clean, cost-effective electricity that will offset UBC's existing power consumption. This is the equivalent electricity required to power about 1,500 homes. The system also will 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 4,500 metric tpy. This is the equivalent of taking more than 1,100 cars off the road.

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 new solid wood building material that can be used as a low carbon, renewable alternative to steel frame construction. This will be one of the first CLT buildings in North America and will demonstrate its market potential for the forest industry.

Funding support for the project is being provided by: the Government of Canada's Clean Energy Fund administered through Natural Resources Canada; Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), a not-for-profit corporation created by the Government of Canada; the BC Bioenergy Network (BCBN); and FPInnovations.