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Toronto Western benefits from wastewater energy transfer

June 21, 2021 – Delivered by Noventa Energy Partners, Toronto Western Hospital is the proud beneficiary of the world’s largest wastewater energy transfer project, which will supply 1.8 billion kWh of energy from raw wastewater to the hospital over the next 30 years.

“Wastewater is an untapped renewable energy source that is underutilized in North America,” said Dennis Fotinos, CEO of Noventa. “This is one of the first projects of this scale to use raw municipal wastewater from a sewer to provide low-carbon heating and cooling to a building, and serves as a testament to what can be done if we are prepared to challenge convention and reimagine energy to build a more sustainable future for all.”

Funded in part by the Government of Canada and financed by Vancity Community Investment Bank (VCIB), The $38-million project will generate enough thermal energy using raw municipal wastewater from a sewer to supply 90% of the hospital’s heating and cooling requirements, reducing its carbon emissions by a quarter of a million tonnes.

Noventa will use HUBER ThermWin technology (for which it is the exclusive North American distributor)—along with its proprietary DFSC process—to harvest energy in raw municipal wastewater flowing through a sewer.

Over the next 30 years, Noventa’s wastewater energy transfer technology is expected to:

• Supply 1.8 billion kWh of energy to the hospital—about 90% of its space heating and cooling requirements.

• Reduce the hospital’s CO2 emissions by 250,000 tonnes.

• Save over 141 million kWh of electricity, 130 million cubic metres of natural gas, and 1.3 billion litres of cooling water.

Ryerson University will work with Noventa and the University Health Network to conduct ongoing research, surveillance and wastewater sampling on the project.

The project secured funding from both the public and private sectors. The Government of Canada will invest $3.3 million from its Low Carbon Economy Fund, while VCIB—a subsidiary of Vancity Group—will provide financing of $9 million.

The project is being built, owned and operated by Noventa, with thermal energy being sold to the hospital pursuant to a long-term energy services agreement. The company says the hospital will see energy savings over current costs immediately.