The City of Surrey officially opened its new West Village Energy Centre and Park on Thursday evening. The state-of-the-art energy centre will be an integral part in improving energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing more competitive energy pricing for Surrey residents and businesses in City Centre.
“With the completion of the West Village Energy Centre, Surrey has taken a significant step forward in our journey to a renewable energy future,” said Mayor Doug McCallum. “Not only does the Energy Centre support the city’s carbon reduction goals, but it’s an innovative example of how we are greening the city’s developing downtown core. As City Centre continues its transformation into a vibrant, urban downtown core, we are ensuring the area will be an environmentally, sustainable urban centre.”
District energy systems represent a significant opportunity for cities to move towards climate-resilient, resource-efficient and low-carbon pathways. The City decided early on that district energy utility development must be aligned with community objectives and, by owning and operating the district energy system as a municipal utility, the city would play the lead role in shaping its future.
With over 55 per cent of community-wide energy consumption concentrated in the buildings sector and buildings accounting for about 35 per cent of Surrey’s total community greenhouse (GHG) emissions, Surrey City Energy sets a progressive vision for a more prosperous, cleaner and healthier City Centre powered by a growing district energy network.
Surrey City Energy is key to establishing a renewable energy future for the city by:
- Cutting community-scale greenhouse gas emissions
- Generating heating and hot water more efficiently
- Keeping energy affordable
- Delivering energy security through sustainable, community-level energy solutions
- Transitioning to local, low-impact renewable energy sources
- Raising awareness of energy sustainability
Although district energy as a concept isn’t new, what sets Surrey City Energy apart is its ‘systems thinking’ approach to scaling up energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Planned as one of the largest systems in Canada, it will expand to meet projections for thermal energy demand and achieve targets for reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
More energy centres, fuelled by an expanded range of renewable energy sources, will be added and the piping network expanded as heating demand increases. Over time, the district energy system will cover the entire City Centre area serving tens of thousands of households.
Learn more at www.surrey.ca/cityenergy and www.surrey.ca/parks.