On July 16, Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, visited Markham District Energy, the city’s public energy utility and Canada’s fastest growing energy utility, to highlight how federal investments are expanding Markham’s affordable, low-carbon energy network to more residents and businesses.
Markham District Energy’s network is already delivering reliable, cost-efficient heating and cooling to over 15 million square feet across 240 buildings. Through a system of underground pipes, energy is delivered to buildings in the form of hot water and chilled water to heat and cool building space. This innovative clean energy network is attracting major new investments to Markham and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 35 per cent, with a target of net-zero by 2050.
To expand the world’s largest wastewater energy transfer facility so more residents and businesses can benefit from affordable, low-carbon energy, the federal government today announced an additional investment of $24.9 million in Markham District Energy. This investment will significantly reduce the energy network’s natural gas consumption with a new 18.5-megawatt wastewater heat recovery system and a new 500-kilowatt biomass pellet boiler, which will reduce emissions by over 700,000 tonnes of CO2e over the projects’ lifetimes.
“We are empowering homegrown innovators, like Markham District Energy, to turn their ideas into economic success stories,” said Minister Freeland. “By investing in cutting-edge technology, we are making energy more affordable saving resident and businesses money on their energy bills while also reducing emissions and creating good-paying jobs.”
This investment builds on federal support already delivered to Markham District Energy, including:
- The Canada Growth Fund’s novel carbon contract for difference with Markham District Energy Inc., first announced in June. This carbon contract for difference will help Markham’s public energy utility generate more clean energy by using Noventa Energy Partners Inc.’s Wastewater Energy Transfer (WET) technology to extract thermal energy from wastewater. Over the 10-year carbon contract for difference, the project has the potential to reduce more than 177,000 tonnes of CO2e emissions with an initial price of $100 per tonne of CO2e.
- The Canada Infrastructure Bank’s $135 million low-cost loan, announced in November 2022, which was matched by CIBC. This combined $270 million in financing will help expedite the large-scale expansion of Markham District Energy to more buildings and ensure its long-term reliability and cost-efficiency, reducing emissions by 33,700 tonnes of CO2e.
Combined, federal investments in Markham District Energy will reduce emissions by 910,700 tonnes of CO2e by enabling the affordable, low-carbon energy network to expand to more residents and businesses in Markham’s downtown core.
Featured image credit: Getty Images
