SEEgen Cogeneration Plant

Social, economic, and environmental principles are the three interdependent pillars of sustainability, and the SEEgen cogeneration plant located in Burnaby, B.C., has all three in abundance. Since commencing operation in 2003, SEEgen—an acronym for Social, Economic, and Environmental generation of electricity—has won multiple awards and accolades for turning solid waste into energy.

The SEEgen cogeneration plant is part of a larger Waste-to-Energy Facility (WTEF) that is owned by the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD)* and operated by Montenay Inc. Commissioned in 1988, WTEF incinerates biomass—in this case, municipal solid waste—producing steam in the process. Some of the steam is sold to a nearby containerboard manufacturing plant, but prior to the installation of SEEgen, much of the energy produced from the combustion process was lost as excess heat.

The SEEgen project involved the installation of a new steam turbine and generator set to use the steam produced by three existing boilers. A full condensing turbo generator recovers all energy produced at the facility. Montenay designed and installed SEEgen and manages its operation under a long-term contract with the GVRD.

The SEEgen addition cogenerates electricity from what would otherwise be wasted energy produced from the disposal of biomass. Because a cogeneration plant produces heat and electricity in a single process for dual output streams, SEEgen allows steam produced during the combustion process to be extracted for the manufacturing plant and for the excess heat to be used to produce electricity, which is sold to BC Hydro.

Willis Energy Services Ltd. assisted with the contractual arrangements between Montenay, as the SEEgen facility operator, and BC Hydro, as the power purchaser. Independent power producers must undergo a rigid evaluation process before granted a purchasing agreement with BC Hydro, and SEEgen was no exception. Following our assistance, Montenay submitted a response to BC Hydro’s 2002 Customer-Based Generation Request for Qualifications. Once Montenay passed the qualification round, we assisted the company submit a bid to BC Hydro to sell the power produced by SEEgen to the Utility. As part of the application process, we performed an economic analysis of the SEEgen plant and reviewed the competitive environment in which it would be operating. In addition, we prepared a mini-environmental report.

Following the successful bid process, we assisted Montenay negotiate a ten-year contract to sell electricity generated from the SEEgen plant to BC Hydro, beginning July 2003. With a maximum generating capacity of 22 MW, SEEgen provides 15 MW annually to the BC Hydro grid in addition to meeting the manufacturing plant’s steam requirements. Revenue from the sale of the steam and electricity offsets the plant’s operating costs.

Ron Richter—VP Business Development Canada for Veolia Waste-to-Energy Inc., the parent company of Montenay—oversees the operation of SEEgen. He views the operation as a result of a successful partnership between several entities that shared the same objective. “Through the cooperative efforts of our private and public partners, we have been able to provide economic benefits to the region. These local initiatives provide electricity at the load centre and further the goals of sustainability within the region,” said Ron.

Each year, the Waste-to-Energy Facility turns 280,000 tonnes of biomass into 950,000 tonnes of steam, providing several environmental benefits. The biomass that fuels the plant is categorized as a renewable resource because the supply is constantly replenished—in fact, the plant removes 18% of post recycling materials from the solid waste stream headed to area landfills, which are running out of capacity. In addition, the SEEgen cogeneration plant removes 66,000 tonnes of GHG emissions annually, as the 15 MW of electricity the plant adds to BC Hydro’s grid displaces an equivalent amount of electricity that would have been generated using fossil fuels.

Awards bestowed on the SEEgen plant include the following:

• Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC (APEGBC) Inaugural Sustainability Award – 2003
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Award for Large Waste-to-Energy Facility of the Year – 2004
• BC Hydro Power Smart Excellence Award – 2004
• Federation of Canadian Municipalities Sustainable Communities Award – 2004
• Canadian Institute of Energy (CIE) Award – 2005