Canada Invests in Nine Clean Energy Projects in Rural and Remote Communities in British Columbia
New Delhi: The Clean Energy in Rural and Remote Communities (CERRC) program supports projects across Canada to reduce the reliance of rural and remote communities on fossil fuel for heat and power. This program also supports community-level capacity building to increase clean energy opportunities, including renewables and energy efficiency, and contribute to reducing diesel reliance in rural and/or remote communities.
Today, Terry Beech, Member of Parliament for Burnaby North–Seymour, announced funding for the following nine CERRC projects across British Columbia.
Briquette Manufacturing for Community Bioheat
Recipient: Kwadacha First Nation
Project partners: N/A
Project location: Fort Ware, British Columbia
Funding from CERRC: $748,661
Total project cost: $748,661
Project summary: Kwadacha will be producing compressed sawdust logs called “briquettes” for use in woodstoves for residential space heating within the community. The briquettes are made from accumulated waste from the wood chipping operation that supplies fuel to Kwadacha’s CHP bioenergy plant. Briquette production will offset diesel-generated electricity and propane.
Tsay Keh Dene Biomass System Preparation Activities
Recipient: Chu Cho Environmental
Project partners: N/A
Project location: Prince George, British Columbia
Funding from CERRC: $475,000
Total project cost: $475,500
Project summary: The recipient is undertaking technical system studies and planning to support the Tsay Keh Dene Nation vision to generate heat and power with forest-based biomass, replacing diesel as the source of power for the community.
Capacity Building for Tsay Keh Dene Sustainable Biomass System
Recipient: Tsay Keh Dene Band
Project partners: BC Hydro, the Government of B.C.
Project location: Prince George, British Columbia
Funding from CERRC: $1,000,000
Total project cost: $1,222,900
Project summary: Tsay Keh Dene Band intends to design, build and operate a sustainable biomass energy plant in Tsay Keh Dene, B.C., and will install a combined heat and power biomass system integrated with an existing diesel power plant.
This capacity building aspect of the project will finalize the re-scoping work, including an optimized plant configuration report, negotiating an Energy Purchase Agreement with BC Hydro, a feasibility study, preliminary and construction drawings, an electrical system study, tender documents, technical specifications and initiating an operational training program.
Conversion of Gitxsan Wet’suwet’en Education Society (GWES) College to Bioheat
Recipient: Gitxsan Energy Inc.
Project partners: Office of the Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs, Gitxsan Government Commission, Village of Hazelton, District of New Hazelton and the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine
Project location: Hazelton, British Columbia
Funding from CERRC: $593,000
Total project cost: $713,000
Project summary: The recipient converted the Gitksan Wet’suwet’en Education Society (GWES) college from propane heating to biomass heating to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and operational costs for the college. The project involved demolition of the current boiler room, construction of a new boiler room and pellet/wood chip bin and installation of two new biomass boilers.
Twin Sisters Plants Nursery Biomass Conversion Project
Recipient: Twin Sisters Native Plant Nursery
Project partners: BC Clean Energy Program, Shell Canada
Project location: Moberly Lake, British Columbia
Funding from CERRC: $733,000
Total project cost: $1,033,000
Project summary: The Twin Sisters Native Plant Nursery, which grows tree saplings for reforestation projects, is receiving funding to replace its current forced air and propane-fueled system with a biomass-fueled heating system.
Wit’at Biomass District Heating System
Recipient: Lake Babine Nation
Project partners: N/A
Project location: Burns Lake, British Columbia
Funding from CERRC: $828,472
Total project cost: $893,472
Project summary: Lake Babine Nation is installing a biomass district heating system to supply heat to four community buildings that currently depend on propane for heating. The project will use local wood chips/pellets from local suppliers and will provide opportunities for capacity building and training for First Nation members.
Empowered Energy Solutions: Forestry, Farms and Communities
Recipient: Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition
Project partners: Encompass Management, Bear Claw Lodge, House of Luutkudziiwus
Project location: Hazelton, British Columbia
Funding from CERRC: $136,821
Total project cost: $160,842
Project summary: The Empowered Energy Solutions: Forestry, Farms and Communities project will deliver a community-level energy plan to increase clean energy opportunities and reduce diesel and fossil fuel reliance for the rural community of the Kispiox Valley of British Columbia, the Anspayaxw Band and the remote community of the House of Luutkudziiwus. The project team will investigate innovative solutions with an emphasis on local biomass to meet the energy needs of their communities, while further developing capacity of local women and youth and creating an energy-planning template for neighbouring communities.
Atlin Hydro Expansion Project – Feasibility and Permitting Phase
Recipient: Tlingit Homeland Energy Limited Partnership
Project partners: Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC)
Project location: Atlin, British Columbia
Funding from CERRC: $2,966,000
Total project cost: $3,526,432
Project summary: Tlingit Homeland Energy Limited Partnership has completed a Feasibility Study in order to expand the existing two-megawatt (MW) hydropower facility in Atlin B.C. to eight MW, and export this new power to Yukon’s southern isolated grid via a new transmission line. This project will ultimately reduce diesel dependency in rural and remote communities and support future renewable energy projects. The expansion project is expected to be shovel-ready in late 2021.
Kluskus Biomass Combined Heat and Power
Recipient: Lhoosk’uz Dene Nation
Project partners: FPInnovations, Province of British Columbia,
Project location: Anahim Lake, British Columbia
Funding from CERRC: $900,000
Total project cost: $2,600,000
Project summary: This project will support a reduction of diesel use to generate heat and power in an Indigenous community through the installation of a new Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system paired with a battery energy storage system. This will replace the two diesel generators, which are costly and pose environmental and health risks, currently powering the community. This project will promote energy self-reliance, aid in fire prevention and create jobs for community members in the harvesting and processing of biomass for the new CHP system, as well as other commercial and industrial applications in and around the reserve. The community has access to a considerable amount of biomass following recent forest fires and the pine beetle infestation. To read more about this project, please consult: https://web.fpinnovations.ca/indigenous-forestry-program-focusing-on-collaboration-through-the-respect-of-culture/