What's happeningIncreasing the supply of renewable energy
As the Neighbourhood Energy Utility continues to grow, so does the demand for renewable energy.
Learn about our sewage heat recovery expansion project which will increase the supply of renewable energy to the False Creek community.
The False Creek Neighbourhood Energy Utility uses waste thermal energy captured from sewage to provide space heating and hot water to buildings in Southeast False Creek, parts of Mount Pleasant, False Creek Flats, and Northeast False Creek.
The NEU targets 70% of its energy supply to come from renewable energy sources. The utility is self-funded, simultaneously providing a return on investment to City taxpayers and affordable rates to customers.
The utility began operations in 2010 and has rapidly expanded to serve over 6.4 million square feet of residential, commercial, and institutional space, as of 2021. In accordance with the 2018 NEU expansion plan, the NEU will continue to expand to serve new developments in Southeast False Creek, Mount Pleasant, the False Creek Flats, and Northeast False Creek.
Did you know?
- Buildings account for 57% of greenhouse gas emissions in the City of Vancouver
- There is an immense amount of building waste heat being emitted into the atmosphere through rooftop cooling towers
- There is far more waste heat available in the sewage pipes running under the streets of Vancouver than we are currently tapping into
- As we expand, we want to access and reuse more of these types of local waste heat. The next big step is a low carbon expansion at our existing plant where we are more than doubling our sewage heat recovery capacity
- As part of our Climate Emergency Action Plan, we will be evaluating options to transition the NEU’s energy supply to 100% renewable energy sources by 2030
