Where will this energy centre be located?
It will be located on City-owned land at 720 W. 2nd Street, off Fell Avenue. The site was formerly used to store pipes and construction materials. This is an ideal location as Metro Vancouver’s North Vancouver Interceptor trunk line runs along 2nd Street, which passes by the site.

How will Lonsdale Energy’s new urban heat recovery centre work?
Lonsdale Energy’s urban heat recovery centre will capture heat energy from Metro Vancouver’s North Vancouver Interceptor trunk line, which carries raw wastewater. Before the wastewater reaches the treatment plant, it will be diverted through a sewer heat recovery facility where heat exchangers and heat pump technology will extract and increase the temperature of the heat energy to as high as 80°C. That heated water will then be distributed through Lonsdale Energy’s underground piping network to provide heating to connected buildings in the City of North Vancouver. This process recovers valuable heat that would otherwise be lost and uses it to heat homes and buildings instead of releasing it into the ocean.

What is wastewater?
Wastewater is the ‘used’ water that goes down your drains every time you take a shower, do the laundry, wash dishes, or flush the toilet. Wastewater from homes and buildings in North Vancouver can be over 20 degrees warmer than air temperatures.

Why was wastewater heat recovery selected as the preferred renewable energy source?
As part of our mission to reduce the City of North Vancouver’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and help build a more resilient city, Lonsdale Energy has been actively pursuing opportunities to recover wasted heat generated by local businesses. Recovering heat from sewage can provide renewable, fossil fuel-free heat to residents and businesses in the region, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Heat recovery from raw sewage has been identified as a significant and valuable renewable thermal energy resource that can be tapped into for recovering otherwise wasted heat. This innovation allows us to heat homes instead of the ocean. A nearby example would be the City of Vancouver's Neighbourhood Energy Utility at False Creek, which also employs the same technology to capture waste heat from sewage.

How will this new centre benefit the public and the wider community?
Taking steps to decarbonize the community energy system benefits the public and wider community; it is a critical component to achieve the City’s climate targets to avoid the devastating and potentially irreversible impacts of climate change.

Leveraging more sources of low-carbon and renewable energy sources represents a significant opportunity to reduce emissions from the current and future building stock in the City, which currently accounts for 42% of community-wide emissions.

Once in service, this energy centre will help us achieve our environmental goal of having 40% of the energy we supply come from low-carbon technologies in 2027.

How is this project related to the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant Program (NSWWTP)?
These are two different projects. The NSWWTP project is managed by the regional government body, Metro Vancouver.

Lonsdale Energy’s project will collect waste heat energy from one of the Metro Vancouver sewer lines that will run into the new Wastewater Treatment Plant. Before going to the treatment plant, the untreated wastewater is diverted to our energy centre where we will extract the heat before it travels to the Wastewater Treatment Plant to be cleaned.

Which buildings will be powered by this new energy centre?
By virtue of the design of a community energy system, all buildings connected to Lonsdale Energy will benefit from this renewable source. At the end of 2025, 124 buildings were connected to Lonsdale Energy.

How much CO2e will be reduced from this?
It’s anticipated that the plant will save about 7,600 tonnes of CO2e emissions per year, reducing Lonsdale Energy’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 40% in 2027. Citywide, this will help to reduce the City of North Vancouver’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2.4% annually.

Will this site be accessible to the public?
As part of the detailed design, we will be working to include informational signage about the plant on-site. We hope to educate the public about Lonsdale Energy’s vision for a low-carbon future, share information about the benefits of using renewable energy, and help to promote the City of North  Vancouver’s ambitious environmental targets.