University of British Columbia

Nexterra’s combined heat and power (CHP) bioenergy system is housed in a unique building on the UBC campus.

UBC, Nexterra and GE Open
Groundbreaking CHP System

UBC, Nexterra and have successfully completed an energy-from-renewable-waste combined heat and power (CHP) system located at UBC’s Vancouver campus. This is North America’s first commercial demonstration of a transformative system that combines Nexterra’s gasification and syngas conditioning technologies with one of GE’s high-efficient Jenbacher internal combustion engines. The engine will produce 2 MW (megawatts) of clean, renewable electricity and will also generate 3 MW of thermal energy to heat the campus.

"This is a flagship example of UBC as a living laboratory, where researchers, staff, students and partners collaborate on innovations targeting the pressing challenges of our day."

– Dr. Stephen Toope, President, University of British Columbia

UBC CHP System

Customer:
University of British Columbia
Location:
Vancouver, B.C.
Facility Type:
University
Application:
Combined heat and power (CHP) solution consisting of Nexterra gasification and syngas conditioning system and GE Jenbacher gas engine
Nexterra Scope of Work:
Turnkey gasification system

Benefits

Produces both heat and power for campus
Displaces 12% of campus natural gas consumption
5,000 tonnes/yr GHG reduction
Long term fuel cost savings
Cleaner air and reduced emissions

Highlights

Start-up: Opened September 2012.
Capacity: 2 MW electricity and 9,600 lbs/hr steam to heat campus
Fuel: Locally sourced urban waste wood
Fuel moisture content: Up to 60%
Building Construction: uses innovative cross laminated timber (CLT) building product

Process

One gasifier converts biomass to combustible syngas.
Syngas used to heat water to heat campus buildings and/or,
Syngas goes through a conditioning system to remove impurities.
Syngas is then directly fired into a GE Jenbacher gas engine to produce electricity.