Manning Environmental Law and Golder Associates have made a joint submission on the importance of developing a thermal grid in Ontario’s review of its Long-Term Energy Plan (LTEP).

The key points from the submission are as follows:

• Consumption – Approximately half of all energy consumed in Ontario by industry, municipalities, commercial, institutional and residential consumers is thermal energy to provide heating and cooling
• District Energy – The LTEP review offers  a tremendous opportunity for Ontario to take advantage of the clear benefits of decentralized  power supply by developing a thermal grid to provide hot and chilled water
• Conservation measures – There are many ways to capitalize on waste heat recovery complemented by other energy-efficient technologies such as combined heat and power (CHP) and energy storage
• CHP offers an opportunity for industry and the MUSH sector, either alone or together with new district energy development, to conserve energy through the efficiencies of self-generated heat and power.
• By embracing CHP, municipalities and local electrical distribution companies can help reduce transmission losses and provide a more efficient and reliable distribution grid in combination with improved electrical generation efficiency.
• Financial viability –  Generators who use the energy generated by their CHP behind-the-meter should have a full  set-off (contrast the treatment of behind-the-meter renewable energy projects)
• Additional incentives could include: the ability to sell surplus energy to the grid (where the CHP project is not oversized); enhanced tax allowances on capital costs; and grant and procurement funding to the MUSH sector to implement energy conservation and demand plans through CHP

To read the full submission, please click here