The City of Belleville cut the ribbon on new power infrastructure at the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre Wednesday morning.
Mayor Mitch Panciuk, flanked by councillors Pat Culhane and Bill Sandison as well as members from Elexicon Group and others, officially announced the new combined heating and power system.
The infrastructure is a more efficient and eco-friendly option for power and heat generation that also saves the city money. Mayor Panciuk explained some of the ways this benefits the city.
“For the City of Belleville we’re not investing in it. This is a complete cost by Elexicon. Elexicon invested in it, they operate it, we save money on it and then the profits Elexicon makes on this project we get to share in it because we’re shareholders. It’s a win-win-win situation for the City of Belleville.”
The new infrastructure came through the city’s partnership with Elexicon Group. As shareholders in the company, the city receives a share of the profits from this project as well as saving money on power costs for the wellness centre.
Don Seguin, Technical Services manager for Elexicon Group, says the efficiency improvements are big.
“So [with] a traditional system you’re buying power from the grid which is about 30-40 per cent efficient. Because you’re producing power on-site, you negate all the losses from transmitting the power across power lines. This system is about 70 per cent efficient.”
The new system produces power using turbines, which Seguin compares to an airplane jet engine, and the heat that is recovered from the exhaust of the turbines is piped into the heating for the pools and the domestic hot water for the facility. A typical system uses reciprocating engines to create power.
The green advantage is also evident. Seguin explained how the new system helps reduce the carbon footprint.
“The turbines are the cleanest combustion technology on the market. Their exhaust is about 10 times cleaner than a traditional reciprocating engine.”
Seguin also added that this technology is the only combustion technology that meets the strict carbon requirements in California, and that the technology is built to last a long time, further adding to the sustainability.
Don Seguin of Elexicon Group showing Mayor Mitch Panciuk and others the new power infrastructure. (Photo: Ryan Peddigrew/Quinte News)
